May 29, 2009

NOW they tell us.

This just in: social networks are the taking off! Welcome to 2006, folks.

The article on Business Week is actually a pretty good read, and centers on how we should be using social networks, and goes well beyond just telling us that they're out there. Trust me -- It's not nearly as dated as the headline featured in the AAAA SmartBrief.

Posted by Nick Kinney on May 29, 2009 at 07:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Brave New Marketing

May 26, 2009

Sam Elliott is awesome and Coleman is pretty good, too, I guess.

Posted by Nick Kinney on May 26, 2009 at 01:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising

May 21, 2009

AC #62 Now Available

The Everyone Must Calm Down Edition.

Tug and John release a few months of advertising frustration and end up on several high horses.

0:00     Google the Herculoids
8:08     We Still Like Hulu
8:52     Adventures in Fast Food (Would You Like Controversy With That?)
16:59    "Well, Can't We Just..."
18:40    Bad Copy That Caught Our Eye
20:34    Read Topic Suggestion Sets Us Off
32:38    Mother's Day Advertising
35:38    Bonus Track
36:35    Too Much Beer Track (From a Lost Episode)

It's been a long time coming. So, why wait any longer?

Posted by John on May 21, 2009 at 01:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: AC News

May 20, 2009

Puppets do it for me everytime

I love it when an incredibly timely and entertaining message is unleashed upon humanity. Relevant advertising that captures the moment is infinitely more engaging than random messaging with the same placement. Check out the other spot.

Posted by KFAD on May 20, 2009 at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising

May 18, 2009

Curmudgeonliness: Unfortunately, there's not an app for that.

NOTE: Before you read the following post, please watch the above video, which you've likely seen already, but hey -- one more time couldn't hurt, right?

Watch it? Good. Let's begin:

Yesterday at breakfast, my mom the accountant started in on one of her "I saw the funniest commercial yesterday" stories that she uses to give me unsolicited (the best kind) advice on how I should be doing my job. I typically enjoy these conversations, mostly because they make me feel smarter than her, but also because she unintentionally give me little bits of insight that I like to stash away in the recesses of my brain for use at a later time -- like, say, in blog posts.

Anyway, our latest conversation was particularly intriguing. Here's how it went:


MOM: "I saw the funniest commercial yesterday."

ME: [In my "I'm utterly-disinterested-in-what-you're-about-to-say-but-I'll-listen-'cause-you're-my-mom" tone] "Really? What was it?"

MOM: This new Apple ad [Much like seemingly all ad people, my mom loves Apple ads] about programs.

ME: Programs?

MOM: Yeah -- you know, "we've got a program for that."

ME: App.

MOM: ?

ME: We've got an APP for that. What do you like about it, because it's obviously not the copy...

MOM: They just make the them sound really useful. Hey what time is the Royals game tonight? [My mother's brain can be very erratic]

ME: [Looks on Sportacular iPhone app] Six o'clock. Well, don't you think apps probably ARE useful? Just showing off a few examples isn't all that innovative...

MOM: Well, I thought it was pretty cool. Hey, I think your dad wants to go to that game tonight. I wonder if I can get tickets?

ME: [Checks TicketsDirect app] Yes, you can. I just ordered them. Third base line. Pick 'em up at will-call.

MOM: Oh, good. I was worried it was sold out.

ME: Not yet. Probably will be later today, though. And about those apps, do you wanna try any out? I've got my iPhone right here, and there's a recipe book app I bet you'd adore.

MOM: No. That stuff's for you kids. I wouldn't know what to do with it. [Looking at the check, which she refuses to let me pay] Hey, what's 18% of $26.54?

ME [In my head]: I would show you, but calculators are for us kids. You wouldn't know what to do with one.

ME [In reality]: *Sigh* [Opens Tipulator App] $4.78.


That's right, folks. My mom is fully capable of auditing a multi-national corporation, but she really believes that the App store is beyond her realm of comprehension. The best part? Not even a TV commercial THAT SHE TOLD ME MAKES IT LOOK USEFUL or her son using it to solve everyday problems right in front of her can change her attitude. I would say something about old dogs and new tricks, but my mother is a nice upstanding lady, thank you very much, and would likely take offense to being compared to an aged canine.

What I will say, though, is that I wonder if this kind of thinking is exactly why it's often difficult to sell a client on something new and different. Because even if they know it will likely be effective at solving a problem and creative enough to get noticed, they still won't buy off on it because that stuff's "for you kids" and not whatever brand it is they happen to be managing. All of this leaves me wondering three things:

1. How do we convince the current generation of decision makers to change that curmudgeonly way of thinking?

2. Will the next generation of decision makers -- the millenials -- think the same way, or will their upbringing in the digital era leave them more open to change and new ideas?

3. How did my mother the accountant not know what 18% of $26.54 was?

If you've got the answers to these questions, or even just a half-baked theory or two, please help a brotha out and share with the rest of us.

Posted by Nick Kinney on May 18, 2009 at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Brave New Marketing

May 13, 2009

Three surefire paths to social media FAIL!

These days, it seems like everybody's doin' this newfangled thing the kids are calling social media. Whether it's Twitter, Facebook, Youtube or one of the many other networks that exist out there on the intertubez, many clients are looking to establish their presence when it comes to social media so they don't fall behind the tide like they might have by not having a website back in '98. 

And while it can be tricky, there are several ways to win when it comes to social media. Zappos.com did it, and mega-brands like Dell, Harley-Davidson, Victoria's Secret and Google, too. But for these five successes, there are several thousand failures. 

Why? Well, I'm sure the reasons are plentiful, but from what I've seen as a young, slightly geeky dude who's been involved in this whole social media movement since back in the friendster days, there are a lot of ways to fall flat on your face in the social media universe. Here are the top 3:

1. You've failed to understand your medium.

Social media, you see, isn't like anything else you've ever done. It isn't print or TV or radio or guerilla or alternative media or traditional, one-way web communication. In fact, social media isn't a medium at all. Rather, it's an easy way to describe the collection of hundreds or thousands of different platforms on the web that allow people to connect with eachother. Where many of us go wrong, I think, is when we falsely believe that each or even most of these networks use the same tone of voice and rules of etiquette. 

A wise man, in a rather unwise moment, told me that "I don't have to know about Twitter to do Twitter." Luckily, this man has never had to "do Twitter" for a client -- because he certainly wouldn't do it well. Without first immersing himself in the network's world and gaining a rudimentary understanding of all it's unwritten laws*, an advertiser will fail to gain a following at best, and will piss off an unthinkable number of people at worst.

*Just for reference, here are a few of Twitter's commonly accepted rules in a strikingly familiar format.

2. You failed to drop the sales pitch

So let's pretend that you like Converse Chuck Taylors -- seeing as you're in advertising, that doesn't seem like too tough of a proposition. Now let's say that you believe your Johnston-and-Murphy-wearing accountant friend's feet would look positively rockin' in the classic low-top black model we've all come to know and love. How do you go about telling him about the shoes you think he'll dig, if only he tries them on? Do you tell him about breathable canvas uppers and reinforced eyelets? Do you make sure to mention that if you act before 10/31/10, you can receive up to $3.57 off after mail-in rebate? Do you do all of this through a megaphone from 3 inches away? 

Of course not -- if you talked like that all the time, you wouldn't have any friends to begin with, let alone possess the potential to make new ones. You'd definitely be much more subtle than that. You'd answer any questions he asks about your shoes, and lay off the hard sell. After all, he's your FRIEND, right?

Right.

3. You've failed to be willing to be transparent.

In just about every medium we use, ad dudes and dudettes get to select the information they want users to know. We run the sexy facts and figures and relinquish the ugly stuff to the disclaimer copy. Unfortunately for us, when it comes to social media, there is no disclaimer. Everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) about a brand, whether it be good or bad, is going to get discussed by your friends and followers. Did one of your customers receive positively awful service? Did a product fail to deliver on all of the promises you once wrote? Did your brand's CEO get caught in a seedy hotel room with a mistress -- or in a Swiss bank with an extra "bonus" from the company coffers? Then you can bet you'll hear about it from your online friends or followers.

Now calmly wipe the sweat from your forehead, change your pants if necessary, and listen up: all of these events, and all of these conversations were going to happen anyway. All we're doing by getting involved in social media is giving ourselves a voice in the community in which they take place. And used in the right way, this voice is a weapon we can use All we have to do is meet public outrage with simple, honest answers. If we do that, not only will quell our detractors, but we may even turn them into friends and advocates.

P.S. -- If you don't know about FAIL!ing, then you should probably crawl out from under that rock and visit the FAIL! blog.

Posted by Nick Kinney on May 13, 2009 at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories:

May 12, 2009

Denny's Allnighter -- Is that unicorn high?

Posted by Tug McTighe on May 12, 2009 at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising

May 11, 2009

Wii would like to see more ads like this, Nintendo.

Posted by Nick Kinney on May 11, 2009 at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Games

May 07, 2009

Live video banner with comments.

Pretty cool GE. Thanks to @SteveIsaacs for the find.

Posted by John on May 07, 2009 at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Brave New Marketing , Current Affairs , Marketing Trends , The real world , Web/Tech

May 06, 2009

They're playing Simon's song

American Idol may or may not be great television.  But there's no denying that it is freakin' brilliant marketing.  And tonight's results show is the ultimate example.  

Posted by Joe on May 06, 2009 at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Television