by Next Wave Team | Jul 26, 2006 | Advertising, Change the world, Creativity, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Guerrilla Campaigns, Low Budget Advertising, Practical Marketing 101
FREEWAYBLOGGER.com - Free Speech: Use It or Lose It
It’s political speech- and it’s protected- and you may or may not agree with the content- but if you want a primer on how to get your message out without spending big bucks- the video on FreewayBlogger shows you how to use paint, cardboard and a few overpasses to get your message out. Wild posting is common in big cities- but, you have to be careful of local laws and regulations.
Check out the link above.
by Next Wave Team | Jul 26, 2006 | Advertising, Careers in Advertising, Change the world, Creativity, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Future of TV, Guerrilla Campaigns, Low Budget Advertising, Marketing & the Web, Media, Viral Marketing, Web strategy
The Movie Business Challenge - Blog Maverick - www.blogmaverick.com _
Mark Cuban- the guy who owns the Dallas Mavericks and HD Net- uses his blog to make him money. Not that he’s lacking it- he’s got enough to buy half of Dayton- and then some.
While offering jobs seems to be the thing for billionaires to do (Donald Trump and the Apprentice, Richard Branson and “The rebel billionaire” and Mark Cuban with “The benefactor”- c’mon- try to be more original) Cuban poses a very real question: How to market movies for less and drive people to the theaters.
Answer the question- and get a job.
So far- 568 applicants (give or take)- including The Next Wave.
His question is very much related to the topic “thoughts on TV” on this site- and how to get eyeballs in a Video On Demand (VOD) universe. It’s also why Amazon sells more than just books- since over time Nicholas Negroponte’s “Bits not Atoms” axiom will take effect.
Negroponte (head of the MIT Media lab, author of “Being Digital” and former back page writer for Wired magazine) said that converting digital bits to atoms- like newspapers, DVD’s and the like- doesn’t make sense- whatever is digital- should remain digital. So, the only thing movie theaters can do is take a lesson from Bookstores which have transformed themselves into social gathering places to survive. You may be interested in Hollywood Blvd. Cinema, Bar and Eatery in Woodridge IL- which seems to have mastered this (although their website needs a web 2.0 makeover).
We doubt we’ll hear from Cuban- but if you are facing marketing challenges in a changing world- consider giving us a call.
What do you think?
by Next Wave Team | Jul 25, 2006 | Advertising, Brand Relevancy, Change the world, Creativity, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Great Ad Agencies, Guerrilla Campaigns, Marketing & the Web, Media, Practical Marketing 101, Search and Business, Viral Marketing, Web strategy
So the client looks at the proposed budget for the TV spot- and swallows hard. Those are big numbers- especially on the FX (effects) – green screen, miniatures, models etc- big cast- and then- they see- almost as much cash to make a “Making of the spot” documentary- and the clients says “Over my dead body.”
So the agency account exec whips out a pistolo, shoots the CMO and off they go to make the spot- plus the documentary- which by the way- is only available online (not even on the clients site- click image on right to view in a new window)- and you have what Ad Age calls the most liked spot of the month: The Burger King Stackers spot- made by the hottest shop on the planet: Crispin Porter + Bogusky.
So- was this little documentary a wasteful indulgence? Not if it gets people to sit through 3.5 minutes of entertainment featuring your brand.
Would this have happened on a conventional compensation plan- where no media is bought to run this bit of agency extravagance- no. Would the brand have the buzz that BK is enjoying now? No. Is there hope for other fast food feeders to still own a piece of the “Meat head” market segment of men, aged 18-25 who are likely to eat fast food 3+ times per week? Not if you play it safe, and worry about offending some segment of the market. I can just hear a brand manager at P&G worrying about offending small people with this spot. Hence, P&G hasn’t been able to master the buzz machine of the Internet.
There is a burning question on my mind about Crispin’s Internet delivery strategy:
- Are they purposefully avoiding putting work onto the client site so that it doesn’t seem to be delivered by the client (as a sort of distancing mechanism) and forgoing the measurement tools from the site stats-
-or-
- is it that they don’t care about utilizing the information that can be gleaned from having the customer on their own server- watching where they go- and what they do?
To someone who believes in the power of webstats to provide insight into customers minds- the first option seems reckless. However, if the focus is on velocity of concepts- which seems to be a key to Crispin work (the factory concept)- measurement doesn’t matter- until they have a client that is actually selling online (like Gateway- who didn’t listen to their advice to streamline their product lines).
Either or- how a client justifies the expense of these can only be by one method- have sales increased – and word on the street is that Burger King is seeing results at the registers. Was it worth the extra money- absolutely, would most clients spend the extra money- no.
What do you think? Is Crispin missing out on opportunity to connect with customers by using Google video to distribute content instead of their own site?
by Next Wave Team | Jul 23, 2006 | Advertising, Careers in Advertising, Change the world, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, How To Select An Ad Agency, Practical Marketing 101
how to choose the right ad agency - Google Search
Just another example of Google magic by The Next Wave- we’re number 3 with our post on selecting an advertising agency- something that seems to bewilder so many clients.
The saying in the business is companies get the advertising they deserve- but many times, they get the wrong advertising by picking the wrong agency. It’s not just a question of size, or expertise- many times it gets down to passion.
Does the agency have a passion for your product or service- and are you spending enough to make that passion translate into a mutually valuable relationship?
My neighbor works for Iams, manufacturer of premium pet foods. He worked their before P&G and after- and as we were painting his carriage house- we agreed on one thing that hasn’t changed: Iams still has bad advertising.
Of course, the moment P&G bought the company- big agencies took notice- and Satchi now has the account. There are also “Brand managers” and “Assistant brand managers” running aroung all over the place. Does this make for better ads- or better strategy? Of course not- and for all the gains P&G has made with their distribution might- one may consider that they’ve actually lost customers by losing their cool cred. Much like Ben & Jerry’s lost their cool when they sold out.
Satchi looks at Iams as a piece of the P&G world to service- and reap the revenue- a smaller agency might look at the account as a stepping stone to bigger things- the right agency would look at it as an opportunity to spread the word about a great pet food- and how it can make your relationship with your pet last longer and keep your four-legged friends healthy and happy.
If you aren’t happy with your advertising- take a look at why you picked the agency you picked- and how you work with them.
Maybe there should be a new career field counseling agencies and their clients- to bring the passion and love back into the relationship- just like marriage counselors?
Or, maybe you should just divorce your agency and get back on the ad dating circuit- since you’re reading this- you are obviously shopping.
What do you think?
by Next Wave Team | Jul 22, 2006 | Advertising, Brand Relevancy, Change the world, Creativity, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Great Ad Agencies, Practical Marketing 101, Retail
Welcome to Room 116: Alex Bogusky says…
Alex Bogusky says…
- To creatives: “This is your company. What are you going to do to make it famous?”
- On approach: What’s really going on here?” If you can step outside your own culture, you can get an angle on what’s going on inside it.”
- “We always say, ‘Have faith in the process, even though you have to go through a period where you’re confused,’”
- “We don’t really believe in advertising”
- Bogusky uses a visual analogy to describe CP B’s methodology. At the center of his schema is the product destined to become famous, and around that are concentric circles that represent different means of marketing and advertising. The outermost circle–the one that takes the most effort to align with the essential brand message–represents traditional advertising. “We push the marketing toward the product,” Bogusky explains. “We spend all our time in the center: the product.”
- “The process is finding the questions first and coming up with answers,” says Bogusky. “After you come up with the questions, that leads you to finding the core [strategies].”
- “With MINI, it’s less about doing an ad and more about making it a part of the culture,” says Bogusky. “If we can come up with a lease that matches the personality of the car, that’s probably better than advertising.”
- Not from Alex, but still interesting: “[CP B] helped us look at all these consumer touchpoints, [and] mass marketing is just one of them,” Martin says. “The agency doesn’t call their work advertising, they call it creative content. They don’t call it media, they call it creative-content distribution.”
From Creativity, Print, Business 2.0, and Adweek.
Thanks to Brian Chiao for gathering these. This isn’t really supposed to be an all about Crispin Porter + Bogusky site- but, if the idea is to stimulate a discussion between our potential clients and The Next Wave- they need to know what interests us.
We used to require all clients to read “Ogilvy on Advertising” to have a common ground to begin discussing their brand evolution through advertising- now, we hope they read our site.
Is “Product focused Brand culture” the secret of great marketing?
One of the things Chuck Porter shared at a Cincinnati Ad Club meeting is that anyone can do a better price and product ad- just by having a lower price. Seems so obvious- but try telling that to every local car dealer, grocery store or window salesman.
If you think competing on price is a solution- you don’t need better advertising- you need a lobotomy.
Advertising and merchandising as a entertainment? Nothing that hasn’t been talked about before. Tom Peters showcased Stew Leonard’s grocery store in “In search of Excellence” in the early 80’s- the problem was- most in advertising never bothered to read many business books.
So- is Bogusky and company formulating the next eveolution of advertising or not?
What do you think?
by Next Wave Team | Jul 22, 2006 | Advertising, Brand Relevancy, Careers in Advertising, Change the world, Creativity, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Design, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Great Ad Agencies, Guerrilla Campaigns, Marketing & the Web, Practical Marketing 101, Retail, Viral Marketing, VW advertising, Web strategy
Welcome to Room 116: Crispin Copies itself
It’s long- it’s full of off topic comments- and it focuses on the darlings of the ad world “Crispin Porter + Bogusky.” It started with an observation that some of the VW outdoor- looked a lot like the mini campaign.
I placed a comment at the end- that probably deserves reposting here- so here you go:
Ripping off oneself isn’t illegal- it used to be called “having a style” and- if something is proven to work- and the client is in deep shit- do it.
Some of you seem to have missed bothering to read the CP+B site- they build advertising like Detroit builds cars- not for long lasting practical lives- but like throw aways, planned obsolecence. It keeps them in business- and it keeps audiences entertained. They don’t strive for “Just do it” or “Got milk” - they are like a comedian on tour- each show has to evolve- or the audience won’t laugh.
Ad people and CMO’s are the only people who know what agency did what- most consumers just want to know who did that catchy little ditty on the Rabbit- “multiply” spot. Most consumers aren’t stupid enough to go out and buy a VW because of it- they still know that the cars suck.
Which brings us to a major point about CB+P- they actually go outside the halls of advertising- into the brand world the product lives in- and work on the touchpoints- that’s more than advertising and pretty pictures- that’s real marketing- something lost on most advertising students- I still believe CB+P thinks about actually selling things- as opposed to creating pop-culture (which from reading this thread- seems waaaay more important than discussing how to sell crappy cars).
For all of Crispin’s strengths- they still make mistakes- esp. with how they use the web to connect with their customers- they still are using it as a broadcast medium instead of a 2-way exchange.
And on BK- no one mentioned “subservient chicken” or “Ugoff”- both of which were brand changing positioners.
What do you think?
