by Next Wave Team | Apr 10, 2007 | Ad Agenices in Dayton, OH, Advertising, Careers in 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, The Craft Of Advertising
When I first started in this business, a very smart group of people were just breaking the national scene; Fallon, McElligott, Rice opened in 1981 in Minneapolis Minnesota- far away from Madison Avenue and the whole “ad scene.”
It seemed almost as stupid as opening a small ad agency in Dayton Ohio in 1988- the only difference was that these people had all worked at some bigger agencies, and weren’t starting from scratch.
In fact, most agencies start by mitosis (splitting of cells). And, it seems it’s happening again, as some former Fallon people are hanging their own shingle, taking Fallon’s star client; United Airlines with them.
Personally, I find this repugnant. It’s called biting the hand that feeds you. If you can do such great work for the client on your own, why can’t you do it for the company that brought you? I’ve never met Pat Fallon, but, I’ve met some of the people he’s mentored in this business; Luke Sullivan, Sally Hogshead and former business partner Joe Duffy, three of the classiest, nicest, most talented people in the ad world. (Note, I’ve also met another former Fallon/Duffy employee who started his own thing- that was a total jerk, but very talented as a one-trick pony). So, while I’m sure these guys that Ernie gives kudo’s to are all nice guys, I’m wondering what Pat Fallon has done to deserve having so much business and talent- slip out the door lately?
Ernie Schenck Calls This Advertising?: Rhapsody In Minneapolis
Barrie D’Rozario Murphy’s star just went from on the ascent to full zenith mode with United Airline’s decision to go with the fledgling but oh so talented Minneapolis shop, thus ending a long-standing relationship with beleagured Fallon. Am I surprised? Yes. Am I surprised? No. Bob Barrie and Stuart D’Rozario and the work they did for United when the airline was in its darkest hour continues to be one of the classiest and tasteful campaigns in the business. So while I honor all that Fallon has done for United, these guys deserve much of the credit.
The site for Barrie D’Rozario Murphy is www.bdm.net (and like most recent Fallon spin off agencies- it’s in Flash and can’t be found).
While I try to keep up on the superstars of advertising (sometimes it gets a little difficult), I have to wonder: of the great ad agencies in this country- which agency would get the honor of being the best breeding ground for superstar talent? Which agency has spun off the most “hot shops”- and, where are the best places to hone your skills?
I’m also wondering how clients like United, can believe that a small start-up can take over a major account and do a truly better job, just out of the gates. Fallon has demonstrated over the years that they “get it” and are as forward thinking as any agency on the planet.
Is loyalty absolutely impossible in the advertising world anymore?
Any thoughts?
by Next Wave Team | Apr 4, 2007 | Ad Agenices in Dayton, OH, Advertising, Creativity, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Differentiating Your Brand, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Great Ad Agencies, How To Select An Ad Agency, Marketing & the Web, Practical Marketing 101, Secrets of Great Advertising, VW advertising, Web strategy
Crispin Porter + Bogusky is the über hot ad agency of the last few years. We write about them, other people write about them, and everybody has an opinion. While celebrities have their paparazzi, the hot agencies have their armchair quarterbacks.
We write about them, because we know there are people searching for great, smaller, independent agencies- and hope they take a look at us (we think we understand web 2.0 better than CP+B and can help our clients get bigger bang for their buck)- but also because, well, the ads are interesting to us.
So, while Seth Stevenson writes in Slate why he hates Crispin ads- (and we have a few we detest too)- we thought this section was worth discussing:
Why I sort of hate the hottest ad agency in the country. - By Seth Stevenson - Slate Magazine
Strong reactions. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, a vigorous response is precisely what Crispin wants. As CEO Jeff Hicks told me, “We make a conscious effort to have our brands commented on and talked about.” It’s his feeling that in a world supersaturated with content—video games, Web clips, text messages, etc.—to “break through and be noticed is a huge victory.” Crispin is the master of breaking through, getting attention with its provocative TV ads and also with smart viral projects (remember the Subservient Chicken?).
But is all attention good attention? This is an age-old question at the heart of the ad game. And there’s really no right answer. Sometimes a provocative, attention-getting ploy is just what a brand needs. Other times, the tactic falls on its face.
You see, local car dealers have been doing the same thing for years (as did a really obnoxious carpet dealer named Buddy)- they did ads that people talked about- that “broke through” - and that drove our community nuts. Yes, they all have top-of-mind awareness, but, no, it wasn’t the most effective way of advertising. David Ogilvy suggests that you create ads that your mother would be able to like, understand and accept- screaming, being obnoxious, etc. isn’t the answer.
When we were challenged with changing the image of Mendelson’s Liquidation Outlet, we refused to put the owner on his own spots- screaming “I’m crazy Sandy, I’ve got deals” (which of course he did after we ended the relationship)- instead we created the “explorer dude” and his “shopping safari” concept- coupled with the tagline “The first place to look for every last thing”- which cut through the clutter, yet didn’t annoy.
As the industry leader, with everyone scrambling for competitive advantage, Crispin is able to sometimes dicatate to their own detriment. The Haggar Dog Crap spot- while entertaining, may loose the pants in the joke. And while we enjoyed the “Unpimp your auto” campaign for VW- it alienated an audience that could one day be potential VW buyers.
Creating an emotional response is critical in advertising- but, when given a choice, go for something your Mom would enjoy.
by Next Wave Team | Apr 1, 2007 | Careers in Advertising, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Great Ad Agencies, Marketing & the Web, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world, Search and Business, Web strategy
You can tell who is web 2.0 savvy- and who isn’t.
Agencies are apparently paying $199 for 30 days to post jobs on Krop.com
Krop - Creative & Tech Jobs
Krop jobs are everywhere! When you post your job with Krop, not only is it instantly listed at krop.com but your job is also automatically listed and broadcasted to our entire network of top industry websites proudly featuring krop jobs. Your opportunity will be seen by millions of talented creative and tech candidates on the sites that they already visit daily.
Build your own site to be searchable- and you can get all the job applicants you want for free. Even ones you don’t want. We get bombarded with applications here at The Next Wave, because we can be found in search. Unfortunately, many large agencies have no clue how this works- and pay to post jobs.
Craigslist.com is always a free option to post jobs, but, so are many of the advertising communities online. Adrants has its soflow community or where you can pay even more on their own little job board. Even Ernie Schenck experimented with a job board on his blog.
I was looking at page rank for searches on Crispin Porter + Bogusky and saw that they were hiring more Flash and motion developers on Krop. Figures- the agency that gets search the least, is looking for more developers that will set them even lower in Google results.
Considering I get search referrals for “is Crispin Porter Bogusky Hiring” and “Jobs at Crispin Porter Bogusky” maybe they should just pay us to fix their site and teach them how web 2.o works and save money on all the job postings?
by Next Wave Team | Apr 1, 2007 | Advertising, Advertising humor, Brand Relevancy, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Differentiating Your Brand, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Great Ad Agencies, How To Select An Ad Agency, The Craft Of Advertising
APRIL 1, 2007: Ad Age: In a strange turn of events, former Crispin Porter + Bogusky LA Office Managing Director, Sally Hogshead landed the Miller Lite and Miller High Life accounts, previously at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami. When asked if putting a $100 million dollar plus account in the hands of a SWAT CD, instead of a traditional agency, Miller CMO Randy Ransom replied, “we tried Man Laws, it seemed to make perfect sense to go with a woman to lay down the new laws. We believe Ms. Hogshead has a unique and radical brand positioning strategy to make Miller Lite and Miller High Life the number one choice of the serious beer drinker.”
Ad Age has learned that the brief centered around new packaging for Miller products- instead of trying to compete with the traditional 12 oz, 20 oz or 40 oz sizes, Miller has decided to adopt the hogshead as the new unit of popular measure. A hogshead is a barrel that holds 62 gallons. Miller declined to comment, but in the secret brief that was leaked to Ad Age, Miller realized that if they sell one hogshead per beer drinking household, there isn’t room in the refrigerator for any competing brands. Miller has yet to confirm the account move on their beer blog- although they did confirm the split with CP+B.
Package design will be handled by IDEO, and in a radical move, Miller will only be sold online, delivered same day by new FedEx Buzz Delivery.
Said Ransom, “We don’t know why we didn’t think of this earlier, Super sizing has done wonders for the soft-drink business.”
Budweiser refuses to comment, but is now introducing the 10 gallon jug in selected test markets.
by Next Wave Team | Apr 1, 2007 | Advertising, Apple Advertising, BMW Advertising, Brand Relevancy, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Differentiating Your Brand, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Great Ad Agencies, Practical Marketing 101, Secrets of Great Advertising, VW advertising
I’m finally getting around to reading “Juicing the Orange” by Pat Fallon and Fred Senn. (btw- the site sucks if you are blind- or Google, or even a reader looking for the material they reference). I’m withholding my opinion till I finish, but I did note something- Fallon convinced Timex to go back to “Takes a licking and keeps on ticking” with some new executions.
So, before Crispin Porter + Bogusky brought back “Have it your way” for Burger King- other agencies have done the same thing. Which leads me to the question: Why didn’t Crispin bring back “Tastes Great- Less Filling” for Miller Lite? Especially once they were in trouble with “Man Laws?”
Is it because in taste tests Miller doesn’t beat Bud (I’m not a beer drinker)? That would make the strategy fundamentally flawed- and then the ads will actually hurt the brand.
When the VW marketing chief asked for a return to an umbrella theme- shouldn’t Crispin look back at “Drivers Wanted” and see if the connection can be made?
BMW hasn’t abandoned “The ultimate driving machine” through several agencies (although the motorcycle division isn’t smart enough to use “The ultimate riding machine”)- and the concept still resonates.
A well known brand is shorthand for a set of emotions and conditioned responses from the consumer. The tagline, if it is closely identified and well known with your brand- is equity that shouldn’t be thrown away just because you are tired of it. The real creativity comes from being able to keep creating interesting executions that connect to the brand.
Apple has stood for ease of use in the consumers minds for years- but until the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” campaign came, they had a hard time getting people to look at them as serious business computers (granted, being able to run Windows has also helped). Nike has “Just do it”- a tagline that could live forever and never be topped. (And to the person who called me on the phone and asked me who wrote it- and I drew a blank- it’s Jim Riswold).
The book “The Brand Gap” by Marty Neumeier covers branding better than any book I’ve read. The hand test and the swap test are probably two of the simplest, most obvious tools a marketer should pass.
The hand test asks if you cover the logo- can you tell who did the ad? And the swap test is equally cool- could your logo and someone elses swap and work better- he shows Polaroid and Nationwide Insurance (I should grab a scan and put it in here).
So- does your tagline instantly identify your brand- and no one elses? If it does, consider yourself lucky- and be really careful about changing it unless you have a really good reason and know it will work.
If you know of other resurected taglines- feel free to add them to the comments.
by Next Wave Team | Mar 27, 2007 | Advertising, Brand Relevancy, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Differentiating Your Brand, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Great Ad Agencies, How To Select An Ad Agency, Practical Marketing 101, Secrets of Great Advertising
Uber cool agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky fired Miller beer as a client after the client started thinking they could do a better job themselves.
Well, when it comes to selling beer, consumers are a mighty fickle group, and the one thing that brewers need to understand is your advertising programs need to be more strategic than tactical- where is the “Just do it” of beer advertising? Why did Miller ever veer from “Taste’s Great- Less Filling” campaign for Lite that got them to the top? In the article on Ad Age, Crispin makes it clear that too many chiefs were killing the creative- a common problem in many marketing programs. If you hire pros- make sure you understand the strategy- and establish what your performance goals are.
Advertising Age - Man Flaws: Why Miller and Crispin Couldn’t Stop Lite From Stumbling
Crispin was a different story. “We just have fundamental differences over creative and strategy” said Chief Creative Officer Alex Bogusky in a statement. “Although we made every attempt to find common ground, the process of multilayered approvals of creative and strategy has made doing work we can be proud of increasingly difficult.”
Those “multilayered approvals” are said to refer to Mr. Long, who was chief marketing officer before being promoted last year; Mr. Ransom; Deb Boyda, VP-brand management; and Erv Frederick, VP-brand strategy for Miller Lite. And it’s been said that Mr. Adami, the SABMiller president, has been taking a more active interest in marketing, although it’s unclear to what extent.
‘Contradictory points of view’
“You’ve got three or four different top-tier people with contradictory points of view,” said one person familiar with the matter, expressing a viewpoint that was shared by two other executives. “There’s a constant shifting of strategy, and a lack of a common vision.”
Miller is now stuck at the height of “beer season” without a mug to present to the public. While there will be many agencies running to Miller with ideas, maybe the guys in charge of marketing at Miller should put their asses on the line and do the campaigns themselves for a whole year- and risk their paychecks on the results?
Crispin proved they knew how to add value to beer with the Twin Label Technology they developed for Molson. Miller has had a string of failures. Remember “Dick.”
The lesson to learn from this debacle is that before you roll out a campaign like “Man Laws”- make sure you understand what the intended results will be- and what you are measuring? Hits on a website are nice- but sales are more important.
Crispin will have a new beer account within 6 months. Miller will have a new agency in 6 months, but this “beer season” will be a bust for Lite- thanks to Miller making the wrong call.
