by Next Wave Team | Sep 25, 2006 | Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Great Ad Agencies, Hot New Creative Agencies, How To Select An Ad Agency, Marketing & the Web, Practical Marketing 101, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world, Search and Business, Web strategy
Not to say we told you so- but, we’ve been taking heat on this subject lately per the opening of “Brew, a creative collaborative” and the need for agencies to set the tone for the kind of connections they want with their clients via a site.
Hill Holliday in Boston ditched their Flash site for a WordPress blog- and we’ve seen a few other agencies- like Wieden + Kennedy start blogs on the side. We integrated a Blog into this site back in January of 2005- late in the game for us- and saw such good results- we started a seminar on how to “blog for business” first as “Blogosopher” and then after a strategic adjustment for MidWest minds- “Websitetology.”
If we weren’t so busy working on client work- we’d change this whole site into a blog- but it’s that tale of the cobbler’s kids shoes.
Ad Age has finally caught on- that most agency sites don’t have any real content- they produce what we like to call “chest beater sites” that talk about themselves as much as Howard Stern or Paris Hilton talk about themselves. Agencies should know: It’s not about you- it’s never about you- and this is where we try to be different: it’s about what we give our customer. Yes, we try to create the ideas that change the game- the ones that set our clients apart from their competition- making them a category of one. Most agency’s mission statements are interchangeable- as are their websites. In fact- take the brand off the big agencies- and you couldn’t tell the difference.
We’ve included a brief excerpt from the Ad Age article- but, while you can check out Edelman.com- you’ve already found an agency that is different- so check us out too.
Advertising Age - Agencies Short on Real Ideas Should Check Out Edelman.com
Studying agency websites
Take a spin around a few agency websites and you’ll soon see what I mean. They’ve come a long way in a few years in that most are actually professional-looking and have some depth to them…
But taken together the content of the majority of these sites says: “We don’t have a clue how to differentiate ourselves, so we’re going to fall back on some fluffy concepts and jargon.” The number of iterations of “we’re the idea agency” is particularly depressing. Variously they declare their ability to deliver: “ideas,” “big ideas,” “catalytic ideas,” “return on ideas,” “brand ideas,” “leading brand ideas,” “ideas and ideas” and “ideas, ideas, ideas.”
OK, fair enough. So the business is about ideas. Maybe the sites differentiate the shops by actually showing those ideas? No such luck. I found no more than half a dozen examples of ideas worthy of the name. Several sites linked straight from the “idea” slug to ads. Ads aren’t ideas. A couple did try to illustrate the nature of an idea they’d had for a marketer, but that led to embarrassments too — such as the notion that telling consumers of a candy bar to “be great” somehow constituted a big brand idea.
Edelman.com
So what to do? Well, one big idea for a website ad agencies could do worse than emulate can be seen at Edelman.com. The independent global PR shop has turned its site into a blog and podcast landing page full of content. All the content is produced by employees and the 17 hosted blogs run the gamut from CEO Richard Edelman’s 6am to Micropersuasion musings from Steve Rubel (who also writes for Ad Age Digital), from the interesting PR Catalyst from Hoh Kim in Korea to a video blog shot with a cellphone.
The site, according to traffic research from Alexa.com, is attracting more than 250,000 visitors a month. That’s more than any of the ad agencies’ sites and is even beating up on some trade publications’ online offerings.
by Next Wave Team | Sep 22, 2006 | Advertising, Brand Relevancy, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Great Ad Agencies, How To Select An Ad Agency, Practical Marketing 101, VW advertising
First a disclaimer: The Next Wave will not work on alcohol, tobacco or paid political client. Alcohol can sell itself without our help.
Brands have life cycles- some can just keep growing with proper care and feeding, like Nike, or have ups and downs like Apple, but in general, brands do better when they don’t try to morph constantly. It’s called a consistent brand voice- and it’s an ad agencies job to help a client focus that voice and keep it above the noise of the crowd.
Wieden & Kennedy has been a star at this with Nike, and has more than it’s share of awards to back up it’s work. So what happened with Miller? After ten years of focusing that voice with the “High Life Man”- someone decided that the brand needed a sex change operation- and to toss the man- for the “girl in the moon”- which of course- lost the guys- and didn’t win over the girls. So, because the client made a bad decision, the agency has paid the price- much like VW blaming the agency for sagging sales- when the problems were tied to stale cars with low quality builds.
Once again- the winner is the agency of the millenium- Crispin Porter & Bogusky, who had revived interest in Miller Lite after Miller had left the “less filling- tastes great” campaign by the wayside.
Advertising Age - Miller Parts With Wieden
Miller Parts With Wieden
Ends Decade-Long Relationship That Created ‘High Life Man’By Jeremy Mullman
Published: September 22, 2006
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — Miller Brewing Co. is splitting with Wieden & Kennedy, ending a decade-long relationship that created one of beer advertising’s enduring characters.
Ads replacing the ‘High Life Man’ with the ‘Girl in the Moon’ couldn’t help turn the brand’s sales around.
Ads replacing the ‘High Life Man’ with the ‘Girl in the Moon’ couldn’t help turn the brand’s sales around.
Girl in the Moon
The independent agency had most recently been agency of record for Miller High Life, creating the deep-voiced High Life Man who helped boost the brand’s slumping sales from 1998 through 2003, but then saw results trail off. Late last year, Miller asked Wieden to give the beer a more feminine positioning in line with its long-held “Champagne of Beers” boast, but ads tied to the “Girl in the Moon” didn’t help sales and were quickly canned. The brand has been off of TV for months.
A Miller spokesman said the company had been pleased with Wieden’s work and wished it luck going forward. Work on Miller High Life will go to Crispin Porter & Bogusky, Miami, which is currently Miller Lite’s agency of record.
I’m not a drinker, so I can’t comment on the taste or quality proposition that Miller High Life offers, but I can suggest that beer advertising is a lifestyle brand- one that should reinforce the drinkers identity and image. There are psychographics to beer drinkers- where you can classify consumers by their brand choices: Import drinkers, Malt liquor drinkers, domestic drinkers, draft vs. bottle etc. For any beer brand to be successful, the advertising and brand voice has to speak clearly to one segment of the market and stay true to that voice. There is no switching teams, there is no one beer for everyone- and if that is your goal, your name is probably Budweiser.
To all the people at Wieden who probably knew that the “girl in the moon” was a mistake- cheers! May you get to work on a beer client who believes in their strategy enough to stick to it.
by Next Wave Team | Sep 21, 2006 | Advertising, Brand Relevancy, Creativity, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Practical Marketing 101, Product and Service Naming, Search and Business, Web strategy
Big or small, before you name your new company, product or rock band, it’s well worth checking with a lawyer first. We’ve created a few brand names for clients- like “Kata” for a kaizen consultant, “Fearless Readers” for a comic shop, “Geotropix” for a GPS guided mapping systems integrator, “Technoconnecto” for a technology installation company and others.
Google is a great place to start checking a tradename- as is DNSStuff.com because most active brands will own their URL- or be published on the web. We use Google as a first step- because we also want to see what usage might be floating around the Internet- and, it also helps identify foreign language issues- which can always be interesting (the Chevy “Nova” meaning “No Go” in Spanish is the famous one).
The next step is to check with US Patent and Trademark Office.
So- you really have to wonder when someone who is considered a “marketing superstar” (Mark Burnett) makes a dumb mistake- like naming a new rock supergroup- after an existing rock group- even having an “identical mark.”
While we are on the subject of “marketing genius”- it’s also clear that Mark Burnett productions has zero understanding of web accessibility and search engine optimization- as this blog’s previous mention of the show ended up with a first page position on Google with a single post and properly tagged picture.
Read the entire MTV article by following this link: the excerpt that follows is the language you don’t want to hear about your new brand name.
MTV News - Judge Sides With Original Supernova In ‘Rock Star’ Suit
The suit insisted that the “Rock Star” producers willfully ignored the fact that the Supernova moniker was unavailable and that “individuals within defendants’ own organizations informed defendants of plaintiff’s rights in the Supernova mark.” Using the Supernova name would cut into the original band’s future earnings, as it would interfere “with plaintiff’s business relationships” or cause the band to lose merchandising deals and potential offers to perform, according to the suit. The filing also suggested that some fans of the band might be confused and therefore duped into buying the new Supernova’s merchandise and music.In his ruling, Houston acknowledged that “the marks are identical, the parties operate in very similar or identical markets, the Supernova is distinctive and therefore strong, and there is evidence of actual confusion in the market.” Houston further noted that “irreparable harm [to the original Supernova] is presumed” and added that “defendants access to [a] large amount of monetary and promotional resources will effectively diminish, if not eliminate, [the original Supernova’s] commercial presence in the marketplace.”
