by Next Wave Team | Jun 7, 2007 | 2007 AAF National Convention, Ad Agenices in Dayton, OH, Advertising, Careers in Advertising, Change the world, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Guerrilla Campaigns, Marketing & the Web, Web strategy
First things first: Louisville’s ad federation has the right attitude- seems to be connected to the community, realizes the value of bringing people in from all over the country- and showing them Louisville’s best.
The hotel, didn’t look like much on the outside as I pulled up on the motorcycle after a really hot ride from Dayton- but inside- the place is grand. Really amazing main ballroom- and a lobby that makes you think back to the grand hotels of the 30’s and 40’s. It’s 2 years old- and a Marriott- only complaint I’ve heard is no wireless in the rooms (you have to use a cable and pay for access- although access is free downstairs if you type in “Public Wireless” and then give your name). Even heard the chef came out and made a custom vegetarian meal for one of the attendees- that’s customer service.
The goodie bag from AAF was OK- the one from Louisville AAF- rocked- a box of girl scout cookies, Makers Mark Burbon Chocalates (I had one and got a buzz) a t-shirt, and their club magazine “Communique” which is awesome. I happened to sit with their board at lunch- and the people were friendly and firmly believe that Louisville has a shot at becoming the next Minneapolis or Miami. It’s that kind of winners attitude that needs to come to Dayton.
Got to see three student NSAC (National Student Advertising Competition) presentations for Coke. One was great- from SCAD (the Savannah College of Art and Design)- the other two were weak. Going back to my judging of Postal Vault in the districts last year- same issues in presentation: the client doesn’t need to know who you are, what your name is- let the work, the ideas, the analysis be the star. Even if you are David Oglivy, Howard Luck Gossage and Bill Bernbach, the people who will see your ad won’t know, they’ll just like it- or hate it. With the average CMO life expectancy dropping by the day (the Macy’s CMO just left after 13 months) the only people who care about the names of people working on the account are the ones trying to use the old “no one ever got fired for buying IBM” (or any other leading brand). Face it- if your ads are working the checks keep coming- it’s only when there is a hickup do people start thinking “Oh, we need Agency XYZ working on the account.” So, students- all your school branding, titles, etc- are moot- just start out with- “I’m Jason, and here is the account planning data to justify our strategy” and move into the meat.
I’m also hating the memorized speeches that, if one person loses their lines- the others all pipe in - face it, if you want to deliver lines- don’t be in advertising, go into theater (or hire actors to deliver your pitches)- now, more than ever advertising is about having a conversation with the customer- you wouldn’t do that from a script, would you? Feel confident in your ability to deliver- ad lib- it has more authenticity and that closes deals- not a push paly and off you go type presentation.
In a forum session “Digital Innovations & Social Networking” they had to expand the room to get all the people in. Great, but, the speakers were in chairs- where anyone sitting in the back couldn’t see them, some staging would have been great. Well moderated session by Murray Gaylord of the New York Times- and by all means, moderating panels is an art- and this was better than most. The scary part was that probably half the audience had no clue what “Second Life” is- which means a lot of clubs should be adding speakers on Web 2.0 to their speakers lists asap.
Which brings me to my last morsel of the day- I was dropping off my Understand What Crispin Porter + Bogusky doesn’t flyer (link is to a printable PDF) for club execs and schools to promote me as a speaker- and seminar presenter. Next thing you know- I’m being told to “Cease and desist” from my little guerrilla marketing effort. It’s unclear if it’s because I didn’t pay big bucks to be a sponsor, or because I said “Understand what Crispin Porter + Bogusky doesn’t” on the piece (apparently it’s ok to compare detergents in advertising- by name, but not ad agencies). This news was delivered by our club exec director who seems to feel that any kind of self promotion is evil- but, she gave me a card of an AAF executive that was the authority on this.
I’m almost surprised I wasn’t told to take off my Next Wave t-shirt. I’m tempted to wear my “I blogged your mom” t-shirt tomorrow- just to take the edge off these people. If you can’t have fun at a convention of ad people- what is this world coming to?
I’ll have more after Friday’s festivities. And, to any of you who are here- and have read this far- when was the last time you put some new content on your agency site?
And last but not least- If you are a student- and haven’t bought Steve Lance’s “The little blue book of advertising” yet- shame on you. It’s a classic- and well worth the $14 to have an autographed copy. Forget the mojitos- get some marketing mojo from someone who understands this new economy.
by Next Wave Team | Jun 5, 2007 | Careers in Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Marketing & the Web, Minorities in Advertising, Search and Business, Web strategy
Extending the myth that great advertising can be produced on the fly- ignoring the hard work of studying the customer, the market and the clients unique selling position- we now have a new pimp for the creative superstars: thetalentbusiness.com
Comparing themselves to Creative Artists Agency- which is more of a rep firm than a placement company- brings a whole new level of sneer to the ad world. In an industry that already has proven itself unable to integrate, or provide pay equity, we now have another tip-of-the-hat to the good ol’ boy network concept.
Yes, bringing in top talent can help you refine a good plan, a good concept, or help you brainstorm- but, the idea that you can freelance a brand to stardom must end.
With the Internet making it really simple to share your skill set with the world- finding the right people has gotten easier, not harder. When was the last time you had to wait for a portfolio to arrive by FedEx before you knew what the person was capable of?
Advertising Age - Headhunting Has a Whole New Look
The former CEO of Bartle Bogle Hegarty USA has joined forces with Gary Stolkin, chairman-CEO of global recruitment agency Kendall Tarrant, to rebrand his business with no less an aim than creating the ad-world equivalent of the entertainment industry’s Creative Artists Agency — and, in the process, change headhunting as it’s been known.
Answer to industry ills?
Today the pair relaunches the London-based agency with offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, São Paulo and San Francisco as the Talent Business, adding a 10-person New York office under the direction of U.S. CEO Lucy Meredith. As the name — a shift away from the stodgy legal-firm approach of putting the principals’ names above the door — may suggest, Ms. Gallop and Mr. Stolkin believe they can create a different type of talent agency at a time when the industry regards itself as being in a talent crisis.
“The industry is going through a big bang right now,” Mr. Stolkin said. “All the agencies say, or want to be able to say, that they can do everything: ads, digital, direct or whatever. But recruitment is typically done by recycling the same ad people. We wanted to create an agency that would cut across the silos of the different disciplines. We also wanted to come up with a genuinely global offering, so that we can find and provide a resource for talent all over the world.”
While silo-integration efforts always prompt industry skepticism, the Talent Business is backing its bluster with an internal fee structure that eschews the usual recruitment-agency model of paying each individual headhunter a commission on candidates placed in jobs. Instead, employees share 25% of the company’s pre-tax profit — last year Kendall Tarrant made around $3.5 million after employee bonuses were paid. By removing the focus on commission, Ms. Meredith said, the company will encourage sharing of candidates among recruiters and focus on clients’ best interests rather than on simply putting butts in seats.
Removing stigma
The Talent Business is hoping strong branding across its website — thetalentbusiness.com — and other communications efforts will help turn the shop into a destination for people interested in changing jobs and take away the stigma of knocking on a headhunter’s door. As one media-industry recruitment consultant admitted: “At some consultants, there’s a belief that the best candidates are the ones you root out, not the ones who come to you. Good candidates probably feel the same way.”
The consultant doubted that mind-set could be easily changed, but Ms. Gallop and Mr. Stolkin think candidates should be asking recruiters to show them the money. They envisage something akin to a firm of sports or entertainment representatives, offering life coaching and job advice throughout a person’s career. “The reason we focused so heavily on the branding here is that if we get this right, the candidates will come to us,” Mr. Stolkin said.
No matter how good thetalentbusiness thinks they are- they have no clue about one type of search that executives use now: Google.
Their site, built in Flash, doesn’t show up in Google at all:
Your search - site:thetalentbusiness.com - did not match any documents.
Guess the first person they should place is someone who can help them with their own search results.
by Next Wave Team | May 18, 2007 | Ad Agenices in Dayton, OH, Advertising, Advertising Case Studies for The Next Wave, Apple Advertising, Careers in Advertising, Dayton Bombers Advertising, Differentiating Your Brand, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Marketing & the Web, Practical Marketing 101, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world, Search and Business, Secrets of Great Advertising, Web strategy
One thing that drives me nuts about the advertising business is that many clients still think of spending money on advertising is a gamble. I’ve never felt that way, because, as our motto says “our job is to make you more money than you pay us.” Advertising, when done right, is never a gamble- it’s an investment.
So why am I feeling like a gambler for the first time in my ad career today? Because our client (of late) the Dayton Bombers, are playing game 7 of the Kelly Cup semi-finals tonight- and if they win, we get to do the campaign for the finals and if they loose- we don’t get the job. Money riding on a hockey game- who woulda thought?
As I said, it’s a first. We’ll know more around 10 pm tonight.
Because we believe we have to provide something useful in everything we post- a few tips on making sure your advertising doesn’t feel like gambling:
- Advertising is a more like a marriage, not like a date. Think about the long term, and invest in campaigns that will have “legs” - a concept, or idea that lasts. Think like Apples “get a mac” campaign instead of Burger King’s one shot “Manthem” (of which more was written about here).
- Branding is a shorthand for what your company stands for- make sure you think about it in everything you do, from what your employees wear, to how you answer the phone- and then get it to communicate clearly in your advertising.
- Consumers are getting very smart about marketing messages- never; lie, deceive, or talk down to them- they now have the ability to talk right back and it may come in higher in search than your message.
- Embrace the Internet, it’s everything you want your best employee to be- if you take really good care of it.
- The immortal words of Howard Luck Gossage are even more important today than 50 years ago: “People don’t read ads. They read what interests them, and sometimes it’s an ad”- so make your stuff interesting, make it art, make it entertaining- but what ever you do, stop saying things like “make the logo bigger” and start saying- “can we make the idea bigger.”
Hope that helps. Now, all the Bombes have to do is win tonight, so we get to keep building their brand.
by Next Wave Team | May 1, 2007 | Change the world, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Future of TV, Web strategy
Naw, I don’t have an invite- yet, but, the beginnings of IPTV are here. Give it a few years, and the idea of cable or broadcast will be toast.
Joost™ - What’s Joost?
Joost is a new way of watching TV on the internet. With Joost, you get all the things you love about TV, including a high-quality full-screen picture, hundreds of full-length shows and easy channel-flipping.
The site isn’t that informative- and it doesn’t look like they have major programming on tap- but, as always with the Internet- being early never hurts, and looking for a buyout can be oh-so-sweet.
Something to keep an eye on- says The Next Wave.
by Next Wave Team | May 1, 2007 | Differentiating Your Brand, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Future of advertising, Marketing & the Web, Practical Marketing 101, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world, Search and Business, Web strategy
Found this in the April 2, 2007 Ad Age:
More than three-fourths of consumers research products online before they buy, and they’re twice as likely to so on a retailer’s site as on a manufacturer’s site.
Do you want to know why? How about the fact that retailers build sites that are search-engine optimized, follow W3C standards and actually watch their stats- to examine how to improve their site- because a better site means more sales. There is a direct relationship from functionality to profitability. Many manufacturers sites don’t make this connection- or do everything they can to make things more complex than they need to be.
A few tips: Never move a URL- if you have a page for your product- the XYZ Widget- always have the same url. Add to it, update it- but don’t change the url. Make sure you have links to the owners manual, instructions, warranty info, a forum to discuss the product, tips on using it- etc.
Allow consumers to say good or bad things about it- if good- say thanks, if bad- try to make them happy. If they aren’t doing it on your site- they will do it somewhere else- and may not find out you have a simple fix or update for your product. Link to as many reviews as possible- making your site the hub (and first in Google) for your product. Make sure consumers can access all commercials, print brochures, spec sheets right from this page. Have S/N, date of production info available as well. Make sure you have high rez photos available so they can put your product on the report to their boss- with why they should buy it- and look good.
These are only a few of the tips for the new way customers research making buying decisions. If you are interested in more- feel free to contact us for a full site analysis.
by Next Wave Team | Apr 26, 2007 | Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world, Web strategy
I’m posting live- with updates- on Websitetology- from the Dayton Ad Club, IABC, PRSA seminar here: http://blogosopher.com/?p=222
enjoy.
