There was an IBM tv ad called “Deep Intelligence” about a sage who saw relationships in the data that drove sales. He says things like “Greeting cards, Lip Gloss” “Beer/Diapers” “Motor oil/ Turkey franks” we can’t be sure that he knows- all we know is that he knows.
If either the agency, Ogilvy, or IBM was tuned into this web 2.0 thing- they’d have it on YouTube to share- but they don’t. [UPDATE Dec 2010]If you have access to Ad Critic, it’s right here: http://www.adcritic.com/content/ibm-deep-intelligence.html
I’ve always liked this spot- but tonight, it became relevant- someone searching for “mark cuban buys hotel chain” ended up finding us at number 4 in Google- and calling us to see if we could help them sell wine.
This wasn’t search engine optimization- he wasn’t searching for small creative ad agency, or ad agencies in Dayton OH, or even great ad agencies- he wasn’t looking for the next Crispin Porter + Bogusky, or how to pick an ad agency (all terms that we’ve ended up on the first page of Google)- he was looking to find independent thinkers in the hotel industry to market to them as outlets for wine from his LA County vinyard.
There we were: The Next Wave>low budget advertising at number four, because we had combined content in a category that managed to put Mark Cuban and the Drury Inn- into the same place.
Go figure- good technology leads to happy accidents. Once the potential client read that “Our job is to make you more money than you pay us” he was reaching for his phone.
Can you ad agency get you this kind of happy results?
Ad 2 is a subgroup of the AAF for young ad pros. Each club does a local public service campaign as a gift back to the community- and the winner was announced today.
When a campaign makes you teary eyed, you know it’s got something going right. The campaign from the Hawaii chapter, for Accesurfhawaii.org was one that you won’t forget.
What’s more incredible- is the total cost to the client was $0- yet the value was over a million dollars.
While the beaches are important to Hawaiians, there was a group of citizens who weren’t able to get to the beach- the disabled. AccesSurf Hawaii was a new organization that needed volunteers- and potential client awareness of their adaptive surf program. To see the effect that getting a wheelchair bound person not just out on the sand, or in the water, but actually riding the waves was inspiring.
George promised me he would get the spots up on youtube soon- and then I’ll post them here, but in the meantime- listen to these numbers- 4x the number of volunteers, 8x the number of clients to be served- basically fast forwarding the organizations plan ten years into the future.
We recently had a client who’s favorite refrain was “advertising doesn’t work”- well, this is proof that it works, that the people in advertising care about their community, and that advertising can change anyones fortune- if done right.
Ad Age Small Agency Diary had a post from Doug Zanger who hails from Portland Ore. It seems bad car dealer ads run from coast to coast.
He gives us 5 (give or take) rules for local car dealers to have better commercials. I doubt any car dealer in Dayton Ohio would bother to read this- or follow the rules, since everyone of them believes they are über creative and smart with their ad dollars.
See if you can figure out what car dealers fit which commandment. My choice list of egregious offenders would include (in no particular order):
Frank Z Chevrolet, Hidy Honda (and now Hidy Ford), Key Chrysler, Prestige Ford, Chuck George Chevrolet, White Allen, Jeff Schmidt, Dave Dennis Dodge- and that’s just for starters.
Advertising Age
Sadly, there are plenty of dealers who still pollute every possible breath of air with that used-car smell. For those egregious offenders, I propose some local-car-advertising commandments. I’ll start with five-ish and invite you to contribute your suggestions to complete the list.
1) Thou Shalt Stop Yelling
This isn’t an air raid. The world won’t come screeching to a halt because the factory authorized an incentive. We know you have to sell cars, but just talk with us about it for goodness sake. Rick Dalbey, creative director at Livengood/Nowack, in Portland, put it best when he said this about auto dealer radio ads: “Think about someone sitting next to you in the car. If they started yelling at you, you would tell them to shut up, wouldn’t you?” Good point.
2) Thou Shalt Stop Using Some Kind of Mascot
OK, Trunk Monkey from R-west in Portland for Suburban Auto Group doesn’t count. That campaign was just flat-out funny. What I’m talking about is an untrained goat, Pickles the family kitty or some college intern dressed as a lobster, all designed to sell cars. Worse yet is animated clip art or a creepy, superimposed mouth on an animal. Unless it’s a dog with opposable thumbs that can actually drive the car, argue with the cop after being pulled over for going 12 miles an hour on the freeway and fight the ticket in court, please stay away from it.
3) Thou Shalt Stay Away from Humor and Your Own Commercials (Unless You Can Pull it Off)
You might fancy yourself funny. Your inner haberdasher may think you’re a riot. That joke about the penguin and the bale of hay always kills at the local watering hole, but we prefer you keep it to yourself. You may also be great in front of a crowd after a few samples of Novortsky Prospekt’s finest, but a fair number of people freeze up like Charlie Brown in a spelling bee when the little red light on the camera blazes up.
4) Thou Shalt Stay Away From 40-Second Disclaimers
I know, you have to use them. But can’t we just keep asking the attorneys general in our states to cut us all some slack and allow you to put all of that crap somewhere other than a radio spot? You hate it. We hate it. If I want to hear someone talk that fast, I can dial up my former intern, my cousin Abby or go to Aqueduct and listen to the call of the fifth race.
5) Thou Shalt Be Proud of Customer Service
If you’ve won an award, cool. Tell us why you won. Those things aren’t easy to win and they shouldn’t be bungled in with the rest of your message. Take pride in the achievement and make that the main point of your message if this is the route you choose. Anyone can find the car they want, but finding honest, good service is another issue. Parker Johnstone, CART driver and owner of a Honda dealership in Wilsonville, Ore., put it best when he once explained to a group of us: “We’re in the service business. We just happen to sell cars.” Johnstone’s shop backs up its claim every time I bring my (paid-for) ’92 Accord in for service. It’s not “just about the deal,” fellas. We’re human. We like to be treated well.
5.5) Thou Shalt Give Us a Shot
Most of us like cars. Most of us are pretty good at advertising and marketing. Let us help you, the dealer, come up with something mind-blowing. There’s some remarkable work out there. (RPA’s work for Honda Element in L.A. is a personal favorite.) It can be done just as well locally if you let us try for you. Ask yourself if what you’re doing is working. If it’s not, give us a call or read “Purple Cow” as fast as possible.
5.75) Thou Shalt Turn Off the Grill
A friggin’ hot dog never sold a car. Neither did popcorn nor balloon animals. Clowns are creepy. A petting zoo may interest me as long as the local health department clears it and there is an ample amount of hand sanitizer for everyone.
The good news is there are a few dealers who don’t break any of these rules- but could still use a more sophisticated, or interesting message.
Face it- the car industry has enough problems foisted upon it by the great “CEO” leaders who remember to pay themselves crazy well- while producing crap cars and flooding the market with dealers and me-too variations. Bad local advertising shouldn’t be adding to the problems.
There are some other commandments in the comments- with a chance to win prizes- so I recommend you head over to the link and see what other creatives add. By the way- I wrote about the Trunk Monkey ads and how local dealers could learn from them long ago here: A car dealer that gets it.
There is a secret to great advertising- and it’s not the size of the agency or the number of awards on the wall. It’s not how hip the creatives are, or how cool the offices or even how big the budget is. And even though you could argue that the quality of the account planning can make all the difference in the world- it’s not what makes great ads.
What makes great advertising is the same thing that makes great leaders, great athletes, great scholars – basically great anything, and it’s one word: passion.
If the people coming up with the ad have a passion for the task at hand- and know the product and who they are trying to reach- you will end up with advertising that doesn’t suck- the kind that actually brings in the big bucks- without costing big bucks.
It’s taking what you have- and turning it into something that is a bit more than advertising- it’s a conversation that you just can’t turn away from. It’s a battle cry that resonates and won’t go away- be it “Where’s the beef” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug75diEyiA0 or “Whazzzup” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GWrrTpJ1eU- it sticks in your head like peanut butter to the roof of your mouth.
When you are in the business of advertising, and know a good ad from a bad ad, you can tell when you do something great- because you can’t get it out of your head either.
So, here’s the latest in the saga of pulling rabbits out of the hat for the Dayton Bombers- a client that no matter how vexing the time frame, budget, material to work with- brings out the passion from us at The Next Wave.
It comes from two things: we love ice hockey and, we love it when underdogs are kicking ass and taking names. The Bombers are in Florida right now- about to play the first 2 games of the semi-finals before heading back for 3 possible games at home. We were asked to put together a poster for the games- over the weekend- so far, everyone who has seen it has loved it. We hope you do too.
Come to the Game Saturday night- and maybe you can get one too.
Big ad campaigns are great- for clients with big budgets. But, sometimes it’s the little things that make all the difference. Seth Godin talks a lot about that “something extra” in his book, Free Prize Inside.
For Jason Liff, film festival organizer extraordinaire, there was no budget, no time and no real plan for how to present himself at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival as a consultant for other film festivals.
And, while you would think that a visionary would have these things all planned out- it’s often not the case. He just called us and said, “I need something to hand out, and I’m leaving tomorrow at 6am.”
Nothing like a deadline to get the creative juices flowing- and nothing like a rush to get clients to step outside their comfort zone and approve something that they would normally give the boot.
Business cards can be phenomenal selling tools- and having a great card is something we always stress for our clients. It’s often your first meeting- and first impressions can be game changing. So for a guy going to meet with a bunch of Jewish film festival types- only one solution seemed right- we hope you agree.
Would a title under his name said as much? And in your card file- would this one stand out? (note to SH, while a 2 sided business card would have been cleaner- if you’ve seen a business card case, with all the card contacts in it- this works a bit better- and saved the client some extra cash on the rush job).
Good, Fast and Cheap- doesn’t happen in advertising very often- but here it is.
Other than editing out the personal information- this e-mail was received by the Dayton Bombers:
I have a number of health and physical problems, at age 72, and need to laugh more. For the first time tonight I saw your “Rumanian” ad on TV with Yannick Tifu and had a good one. Does his “cup runneth over”? LOL! Good work by whoever came up for the idea for that ad…it does catch one’s attention. Some “soft” adult humor, like this ad, flies right over the heads of kids, so no harm done. It made me want to attend a game, or maybe regularly.
I no longer drive and sold my car last December. Does RTA stop AT THE DOOR of the Nutter Center? I walk with a cane and easily get winded. What is the number of that RTA line? (Cabs cost a FORTUNE now.) I live at the Oakwood-Kettering line between Far Hills & Ridgeway Rd. and use #5 or #14 for trips to CBD.
What is the lowest cost for a single game ticket? Are they always available on game dates at the Nutter box-office?
What is the lowest cost for one seat at a series of home games bought in advance (for different game counts)? Five games, ten, etc. Is there a seniors’ discount? Golden Buckeye card?
What is the temperature in the stands? Us old folk chill easily so would I need a sweater or jacket or is it always very warm in the stands?
When does the season end? Please mail me some general brochures.
I guess I’ve BOMBARDED the BOMBERS with enough questions for now. I know…that is NOT funny and you hear it all the time. Thanks!
The spot that the new, 72 year old, hockey fan saw?
It was aired on broadcast TV- and was enough to get an old guy, in poor health, motivated to seek information on how to ride the bus to the Nutter Center (not an easy trip from where he lives).
When was the last time your advertising did that? Especially a spot entirely in Romanian?
Of course, they also got a call: “this is America, you should do your commercials in AMERICAN!” (see our post on Casa d’Ice and their signs for more on this subject: http://thenextwave.biz/tnw/?p=174
