Insights
Local TV news- you are about to be Scoopt
We have three television news organizations in Dayton OH. Some city’s may have more- some less. Even with the cost of ENG (Electronic News Gathering) cameras and remote technology, there are only so many reporters available at any time.
Enter citizen journalists armed with cell cams, digi-cams, camcorders and an Internet connection- they can post their story on their blog or site faster than a news director can get a crew on the scene.
The cell phone pictures out of the London Underground bombings were front-page news- globally. You don’t even need standard NTSC quality if your content is compelling. So, what are local news operations doing to counter this threat- not a thing.
Instead of building a community of news gatherers- or even a community online to support their broadcast news, they are still doing the same thing they’ve always done- and still advertising as “The Leader” or “StormCenter” or something else totally unrelated to building a 2-way relationship with their viewers.
This is so absolutely critical since local news is the ONLY thing they actually serve as a content provider on- and as any reader of this news section knows- content is all there is to distinguish you from your competition.
What’s more interesting is the site www.scoopt.com, where anyone who happens to be the next Abraham Zapruder (he’s the one who shot the home movie of the John F. Kennedy assassination) can upload their content for sale to the highest bidder.
This could be the next big things in local TV ENG- enlisting your community and paying them for the hottest story tips and shots instead of carrying a load of reporters that can’t be everywhere at once.
What do you think?
P&G is still searching
There has been a lot written in the trade press about Procter and Gamble, one of the worlds largest buyers of advertising, looking to improve their haul at creative awards shows. Quite frankly, this isn’t difficult to figure out. P&G is famous for testing- testing and committees introduce the CYA (cover your ass) factor that kills “award winning creative” instantly.
Now, while we have soldiers dying in Iraq, the idea of using Marines in an attempted comedic P&G TV spot for “Tide to go,” a stain removal pen is an insult to the military and to those who have sons and daughters overseas.
The spot goes something like this:
A Don Rickles type drill Sergeant is yelling at a line of five “Marines” and one has a red stain (metaphorical blood?) on his shirt- one Marine slips the other the pen- he eliminates the stain- which seems to confuse the DI- and the spot finishes with the DI yelling at the camera- in a pleading voice, for you to go to tidetogo.com to win a trip to the Martha Stewart Apprentice finale.
What is P&G thinking? The days of “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” went away a long time ago.
As our young men and women are dying in Iraq, tying something as inane as a spot remover to people who are about to risk their life for their country, seems about as stupid as tying your product to a convicted felon (I don’t care if she has her own tv show). How this helps to engender trust and lust for this product, I don’t know. All it does is disturb me. Maybe it’s because I spent time in the military, maybe it’s because I believe that advertising should be interesting, stimulating, entertaining, intelligent. This is not.
It’s certainly not a “big idea” or an “award winner.”
As to the concept in general- it has no chance of having any kind of legs- this DI isn’t “Mr. Whipple” and even if he was, “Mr. Whipple’s “ day’s are long gone.
If P&G was smart, they’d pull this stain of an ad faster than their stain remover appears to work.
What do you think?
[note- update 20 Aug 08] The spot I saw is not available on YouTube- but a newer one is- where they identify the stain as catsup and eliminate the pleading at the end:
How to get a job here- or in any other ad agency.
We review a lot of portfolios. We meet a lot of people. We don’t hire very many.
The reason all these people don’t get hired is generally, they aren’t prepared to get hired.
My first question is always- before I look at the work- do you want me to be nice- or do you want the truth?
Truth almost always wins, and many times, I lose.
In this day of self-actualization and self-esteem coddling, it’s not the best way to win friends and influence people even if you give “constructive criticism.”
So- I turn to my friend Sally Hogshead’s blog for: 83 things I wish someone had told me while I was learning how to be creative.
I’ve added a few in the comments-
But, if you are looking for a job in advertising here in Dayton, or in the big city Mecca’s these suggestions will do you well.
As to knowing what work is good enough to put in your book- I quote my hero’s at Chiat Day- “Good enough is not good enough.”
Good luck.
Blogosopher class 2
The Next Wave will host our second Blogosopher seminar Friday November 18, 2005.
Information about the course is on www.blogosopher.com
Register now for maximum savings- and to reserve your seat.
This course will teach you how to use a blog to maximize the number of hits to your website- and to build relationships with your clients.
The first class was well received- the next one will be vastly improved thanks to class feedback- and a reorganization of the material.