by Next Wave Team | Jun 26, 2006 | Advertising, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Great Ad Agencies, Retail, VW advertising
Advertising Age - GM Moves $225 Million Cadillac Account to Modernista
The day of the Mega-Agency for Mega-Accounts may be nearly over. Car accounts, once only could go to the largest network agencies, with their large overhead, and even larger expense accounts.
Cadillac left Leo Burnett for upstart Modernista who has handled the Hummer account since it’s launch. Similar to the Crispin Porter + Bogusky win of VW, the move followed a move of the marketing chief from one brand to the other.
Unlike VW, Cadillac has a brand that has credible product- but is still not connecting with all its target markets with the right voice. The Burnett produced fashion show spot for the new Escalade that aired in the SuperBowl was blamed for the switch- but, once again- car clients are looking for excitement about their brand- generated by advertising, as opposed to being generated by the merits of the vehicle.
Toyota sells a ton of vehicles in this country- with the most unremarkable advertising- but a high quality, high value, reliable product.
We believe that there are more cost effective ways to market motor vehicles- including a total rebuilding of the dealer networks. Look to what Harley Davidson, Apple and Nike have done with their brand experience retail destinations for a look at what the future of automotive retailing should look like.
It’s not the agency that’s the problem in most cases- it’s the manufacturers who still haven’t let go of their old ways of doing business. The questions is can small ad agencies keep the creative energy and freshness once they land one of these monster accounts- and come under the watchful eye of the old school masters in a new school world?
It will be interesting to see what Modernista does with Cadillac- and if they will be able to hold on to Hummer too.
What do you think?
by Next Wave Team | Mar 22, 2006 | Change the world, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Marketing & the Web, Retail, Web strategy
Two of my favorite web sites are both built by the same people: 800-ceo-read who want to sell you business books. Instead of trying to go head-to-head with Amazon, they spend their marketing money building a trust relationship with their prospective customers through two give away sites:
- inbubblewrap.com which gives you a chance to win a business book every business day by answering two off the wall questions. The name comes from the book mailing packaging- your book comes in bubble wrap.
- Changethis.com which publishes downloadable “manifestos” on provocative business subjects. People like my friend Sally Hogshead, and my first hero business author, Tom Peters have published manifestos.
I’ve actually been approved to publish one on the future of TV- but, clients have taken priority over finishing it.
One of The Next Wave clients, Charles Halton, has his proposal up for selection- you can vote for it by clicking to this link: http://www.changethis.com/proposals/658
And sign up for e-mail updates for the next e-mail notification of new manifestos- or download a few while you are there. The site is also RSS aware if you just want to livemark it.
by Next Wave Team | Jan 2, 2006 | Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Marketing & the Web, Retail, Web strategy
In my parents’ day, doctors didn’t advertise. They didn’t need to. If you just moved into a town, you’d ask your neighbor, the Realtor or a co-worker whom to use for a general practitioner and that was that. If you needed a specialist, the GP would refer you. This was before “Managed care” and specialists for everything. Before direct to the consumer drug ads that told us to “ask our doctor” about problems we didn’t know we had (or could have). And it was before doctors had to invest in new and expensive technology that needed to be paid for by “customers” – instead of patients.
Some doctors have adapted to the new market economy, specializing and differentiating their service, branding it and building a business that proactively positions their business in the minds of consumers so when the time comes- they are likely to get the call. Others have let their affiliated hospitals take over the responsibility of bringing patients to them through negotiated provider status with health insurance companies. What was once a class of independent entrepreneurs who sold their many years of education and considerable skill for a deserved premium have now become mere cogs in a multi-billion dollar machine called the “Health Care Industry.”
What was once a high touch service is now delivered with assembly line style treatment with interchangeable personnel.
As physicians have felt the squeeze placed on them by the insurance industry, the provider groups and of course the threat of considerable legal threats should anything go wrong, they have been forced to become businessmen first and doctors second. Some have given up on high-risk specialties, others have focused on certain profitable segments of the market- doing only elective surgeries that are paid for without the interference of insurers. Others have left the mainstream, creating boutique practices that either self-insure or are just plain old cash on delivery of services.
Some areas that seem to be getting the most attention: plastic surgery, laser hair removal, sports medicine and bariatric (weight loss) surgery.
Already one area has become a wasteland- Lasik eye surgery. With ophthalmologists advertising $299 an eye and spending hundreds of thousands to promote the low price- they have effectively barred others from entering the arena by sucking the margin out.
As someone who already has a phobia about anything touching my eyes, the idea of some low budget operation scares the living daylights out of me, but then again- I can still see without my glasses.
There have been “canned” ad campaigns available from “specialty” agencies that will provide a look and feel in a protected area for each specialization. Chiropractors have been buying into these campaigns for years. Other options include becoming part of yet another network- where ad buys are pooled across many physicians- these are mostly being coordinated by the manufacturers of specialized medical equipment. Buy our laser bone-o-scope and we will advertise for you to drive demand for the bone-o-scopopy that they didn’t know they needed.
Even though doctors are highly educated and mostly computer literate, many have opted for generic templated websites provided by companies who promise to provide a one-size-fits-all portal for their practice. While a doctor may feel good knowing that if someone comes to their practice website and wants to look up what gout is- they will get an answer- this isn’t anything that will drive people to their practice or build a relationship with the physician. It may save the doctor from having to do anything to manage “their” website- but it doesn’t do what a site can do best- which is build a relationship.
In this new day of medical marketing- the patient choices between physicians has become complex and maddening. With the ability to search online- and to access huge databases of doctors that are available through the patients insurance coverage- the question becomes who is right for me? Who can I feel comfortable with- and this is where most medical marketing solutions have gone terribly wrong. Instead of focusing on presenting the physician as a person- they’ve been relegated to bystander by these generic template sites or campaigns from the “specialists.”
To break out of the mold- and to truly reap the benefits of medical office marketing what is needed is more personal, informal one-to-one plain talk that gives the patient confidence that not only do you know your medicine, but that you have the people skills that make the difference between you and your competition.
What do you think?
by Next Wave Team | Dec 26, 2005 | Advertising, Design, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Marketing & the Web, Retail
When was the last time you tasted $90 pound cake?
When I googled for “recipe for pound cake” I came up with over 2 million hits. There’s a lot of people making pound cake out there- and you could probably whip one yourself- the ingredient list isn’t exactly exotic- some eggs, flour, sugar, butter etc… nothing you can’t get together for under $10 and make more than one.
So- it just so happens that someone gave me one. Now, I don’t know what I did to deserve a $90 pound cake- so I thought I’d take it to a party to share.
And without telling anyone it was a $90 pound cake- it just sat there. I even took a slice out of it and told a few people-, which encouraged some sampling-, but when I left the party- it was still there- with only a quarter gone.
Now- I admit, when you get the $90 version normally- it’s packed in a beautiful hat box, with fresh flowers, a nice card and, most importantly the endorsement of one very big TV star who shall remain nameless. I took mine naked- minus the trappings of the packaging and the marketing hoo-haw- and hence, it was just another pound cake.
The same goes for soap. I can buy a dozen bars of that famous soap that floats for $7 at Sam’s- or I can walk into Bath & Body and pay that much for one bar. Both get me clean- just one cleans my wallet out a lot quicker. But, my friend, $7 is not yet enough for the super duper soap. Not satisfied with making a $7 bar, there are even more expensive soap places that charge more. How much more you ask? Well if the store is named after some turn of the century apothecary (a old fangled name for a pharmacy- now commonly known as a drug store) it’s $35 for that sliver of soap.
Now, not all pound cakes or soaps are equal, but there is an x-factor at work that lets someone sell something for 10x or more what a similar product goes for- and that’s called marketing, and more precisely branding.
In the days of global markets- with the ability to buy anything, anytime and compare prices- the way you differentiate your product or service has become at least 10x more important than it used to be. Building your brand, your reputation, your voice and your level of quality has to be foremost on your list.
People will buy from people they trust, who deliver products that they love (or are made to believe they love). I don’t recommend running out and buying a $90 pound cake or a $35 bar of soap, but, think about what you buy and why- and then start thinking about how your customers feel about your product and service – have you built the right persona around your business? If not, it’s time to start.
by Next Wave Team | Dec 10, 2005 | Advertising, BMW Advertising, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Design, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Guerrilla Campaigns, How To Select An Ad Agency, Marketing & the Web, Retail, VW advertising, Web strategy
Of late there has been a lot of major account changes noted in the advertising press. Every move by Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami is documented in the same style as paparazzi chasing movie stars. What was once a relatively small agency, with small clients, who got bought by a small “network” is now becoming a BIG AGENCY with BIG CLIENTS still owned by a small network. How well agencies scale should not be measured by CP+B because it is an anomaly: it’s reputation is so huge, they are able to get the pick of talent, steam roll over clients (since they have been crowned by the media as having the Midas touch) and have adopted a “media agnostic” throw as many ideas on the wall and see what sticks approach.
In case you aren’t aware of their storied life in the fast lane, they made their first appearance on the hot shop radar with their “Truth” campaign for Florida’s anti-smoking campaign. They won a Cannes Gold Lion for their spot for IKEA where a desk lamp gets kicked to the curb- but IKEA seems to be unable to stick with an agency having parted ways with the successor agency as well (IKEA should call us), then came the dream account (only because the car is so damn cute and already branded) the new BMW Mini account. Here CP+P showed off how to get the maximum muscle out of the minimal moola to an exponential effect. Putting Mini’s on top of Ford Expeditions, putting the whole car on a billboard in a Slingshot, even the tagline “Let’s Motor” was so fitting, you couldn’t help but be enchanted with the idea of “driving satisfaction” without having it screamed at you. It was the ultimate in talking with the customer- not at the customer- and it worked. BMW sold cars, CP+B made their client manager look so good, she got hired away from BMW to fix VW- that’s making your client more money than they pay you if I ever saw it. Her reward to her friends who got her there- the VW account, a prize beyond their wildest dreams when they were working on bike helmet campaigns and local business.
So impressive was the mini campaign that success breeds success and on comes Burger King- a traditionally “difficult” client who had been through agencies and “campaigns” faster than they sell whoppers. Along came CP+B throwing new stuff at the masses faster than they could say “Yes” to the “would you like fries with that” question. The first execution was a takeoff on the British TV show “The Office” and the return of the “have it your way tag line.”
For such creative geniuses to settle on someone else’s tagline is typically unheard of- typically agencies want to make their own mark- but that takes time. CP+B was smart enough to realize that a brand in trouble needs help now, not when their creativity kicks in. The campaign was outside the norm for the industry- with double-entendre’s and un-pretty people. But, it was easier to fly the old tagline back through the barriers of corporate CYA and it bought them time- time for an agency to find a brand voice. Great campaigns don’t happen overnight. “Think Small” wasn’t the first thing Bernbach did for VW, nor was “Just do it” the first shot by Wieden + Kennedy for Nike.
Next came Dr. Angus and his big burger diet, and my personal favorite- Ugoff- the fashion designer creating a “pouch” for hot chicken and shrimp” for BK’s new salads. All of these had Internet components- something many “big” agencies still do as an afterthought. Then came the viral “Subservient Chicken” which every fast feeder now wants to copy and then the King mask- of which I won’t comment. But, this huge out burst of creative work has all been in a span of less than 2 years- totally unheard of in the ad world- and…
This is NOT how most clients get the most out of their marketing budget.
Most clients don’t have 300 million to spend. They depend on consistency of message on target. This is why an Apple ad today for the most part looks like an Apple ad of yesterday (please don’t remind me that they only have 2% of the PC market- and that if it wasn’t for the iPod the stock would still be hurting) or that Wal-Mart ads look like Wal-Mart ads. The idea is that if you can’t get enough frequency at least get repetition working for you. With small budgets like BMW motorcycles, the idea of staying on brand message is considered key. If you only have so much money, keep it consistent. This is why brands are so careful about staying in voice, on target with the right trade dress (look and feel). It is also why when you have a great tagline like “have it your way” or “the ultimate driving machine” or “just do it” it never goes out of style.
So- the question we posed at the beginning is do you have the right agency? No matter what you spend, your agency will tell you it’s not enough (except our agency) because their compensation is probably tied back to media billings – the stupidest way to pay an agency ever devised. The second question is, does your brand voice do what it’s supposed to (differentiate you from your competition and connect you like no other to your market)? Lastly, is your agency looking at every avenue they can to make you highly visible to your target market through every channel possible- including the Internet, guerrilla advertising, PR and your trade dress down to the way your stores look, your salespeople communicate and your company ethics? If not, you aren’t using the right agency- or getting the right return on your dollar. There is more to this- but it could be a whole book. You can call us to discuss how you can build your business using these ideas. One of the first things we’ll do is ask to look at your website statistics- and analyze where your customers are coming from. When was the last time your agency did that?
What do you think?
by Next Wave Team | Dec 3, 2005 | Advertising, BMW Advertising, Design, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Marketing & the Web, Retail, Web strategy
“Pardon me, please check your cell phone at the door” might be the future greeting at Wal-Mart- or any other retailer. Today many health clubs don’t allow cell phones in locker rooms because picture cams could be used to take pictures of people without their permission- your local retailer may not want you to be scanning barcodes into your web-enabled cell phone.
Picture this: you walk into Best Buy intent on buying a 60” Plasma High Definition TV. You’re ready to spend $5000 and then some- but, before you say yes to the kid in the blue shirt who’s thinking about the neon he’s going to be putting under his new Honda with his bonus for selling that big TV to you- you whip out your cell phone, scan the product barcode- and send it off to Google’s price comparison site- Froogle and back comes the information that if you drive 1.2 miles over to Circuit City (and here’s the link to the Google map) you can buy that same TV for $4200, and if you order it from Amazon.com you can get it for $3995.
Whoa. Did I just say going out of business sale for every brick and mortar store?
Quite possibly. There is a rule to retail, you can’t be cheapest on everything all the time- and still be profitable- even if you can accomplish huge economies of scale like Wal-Mart has, because there will always be someone else out there ready to beat your price on something.
A client of mine in the very competitive pizza business calls it the race to the bottom- and refuses to take part. He focuses on quality, value and being distinctive- making pizza that no one else does.
So in the retail wars- what has Wal-Mart really brought to the table that isn’t available somewhere else? Nothing. Just as GM flooded the market with different versions of the same vehicle- with so many dealers all competing to sell the exact same thing, Wal-Mart, even with the low price, can be beat by someone else- and if you have the power of the Internet in your palm- you may realize that you can get your milk, bananas and eggs at the Kroger on the way home for 20% less- so you skip Wal-Marts profitable items and just stick to the stuff that they make no margin on.
What retailers are going to be immune from this Internet assisted buyers- those that have unique products – like Target has done with its designer lines. Or where the branded buying environment is a lifestyle statement- like the new Harley Davidson showcase stores. Although I would have sworn that Apple was making a huge mistake by investing in retail stores- they’ve done two things very right- true customer service with hands on experts to guide the uninitiated in the way of Mac- and extended their brand into a branded environment that reinforces their high style franchise that differentiates them from all the other processor in a box manufacturers.
So, before you worry so much about the utilitarian low price behemoth that is Wal-Mart, or the froogle enhanced cell phone price shopper, start identifying how to evolve your shopping experience into a one-of-a-kind branded lifestyle. If you need further reinforcement of this branded experience- here are some of my favorites: IKEA, BMW Mini Cooper, Apple, Chipotle, Trader Joes, or W hotels.
What do you think?
