February 2010
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Happy Friday youze all…as we like to say in NY. It’s beautiful outside with everything blanketed in pristine snow. A fitting beginning for the Winter Olympics. Tonight, on the Olympics the new GE Healthymagination campaign breaks. Knowing it’s from BBDO, I’m sure it will be heartfelt and striking…in its pieces. It will also be a time for G.E. to try and flex some integration muscle.
I’ve seen two print ads already and they are pretty but plainly messaged. Having read about the campaign in the New York Times today and piecing together bits and quotes, I’m going out on a limb here and gonna say “What’s the Idea?
What’s the Idea?
Here’s what we can expect: GE wants to humanize the technology, so no pictures of machines. GE wants to make doctors the heroes. Doc’s are very influential in technology purchases, especially when it comes to those $80,000 procedures. Innovation will be in much of the new campaign; it’s a corporate keystone. Imaging technology will be front and center, as it should be; people understand medical imaging and how it helps them. Consumers will participate because “health spreads contagiously” so expect the people to be posting on Twitter and Faceboook. “Healthymagination is saving billions in healthcare costs.” There will be How-Tos on Howcast, iPhone apps, and, and, and. Lots of ideas, lots of agencies (Big Spaceship has a chunk), lots of content contributors, yet I haven’t heard a powerful brand idea with muscle memory. Healthymagination is a word, not an idea. After seeing the body of work I’ll weigh in again. Peace!
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Tags: bbdo, bog spaceship, facebook, GE, healthymagination, howcast, iphone, new york times, twitter, whats the idea, whatstheidea, Winter Olympics
I’ve been writing for a few years with great admiration about Google and its amazing, transformative search tools. Co-founder Sergey Brin’s original vision or brand idea “We deliver the world’s information in one click” is what allowed Google to become the NASA of the web. Case in point: Yesterday I was looking for a blog post on my machine and used the Microsoft search tool; after three strikes I Googled “whatstheidea+things we remember.” In less than a second I found my text on the Web. Thanks, YO.
More recently, though, I’ve found myself commenting on how Google has wandered from its original mission – getting into the productivity software, social net, chat and now phone businesses. The brand planner in me asks “How does one articulate Google’s Is-Does?” The Googleplex is filled with amazing minds but many seem to be trying to out-engineer one another; me thinks they have lost sense of mission. Steve Rubel’s post today on Google Buzz so reflects.
Culture of Technological Obesity.
Amidst Google’s amazing growth and all its Benjamins, a culture of technological obesity has developed. It’s time for a change. Here’s what will happen.
The company will go through a corporate divestiture, or as was the case with AT&T, a Trivestiture. It won’t happen now…probably within 48 months. My bet for the three parts? Search (Web and mobile), R&D Think Tank/Consultancy, and (surprise) Advertising Analytics. How would you break it up? Peace!
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Tags: google, google buzz, googlelex, googles technological obesity, Is-Does, nasa, sergey brin, Steve Rubel, trivestiture, whats the idea, whatstheidea
We remember beauty.
We remember new.
We remember rich.
We remember melody.
We remember funny.
We remember nature.
We remember poetry.
We remember pain.
We remember educators.
We remember warmth.
We remember charity.
We remember happy.
We remember love.
We remember triumph.
These are the things we remember.
These are the things consumers remember.
(I post this annually, to remind myself.)
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Tags: things we remember.
Blackberry’s current TV campaign built around the Beatles song “All you need is love” is goofy. Pretty to watch, great editing, hum it and smile – but it really has no inherent brand building value. And in a slipping market for Research In Motion, manufacturer of the Blackberry, this is not good thing. Enter a print ad today on battery life. The headline reads “Imagine falling in love with a battery?” Does anyone hear the “beep, beep, beep” of a truck backing up here?
The Blackberry is a stud phone. My son in college has one. My friend’s high school daughter has one. As does his wife, for work. Now we don’t live in “the valley” and I know that the kids might like an iPhone as an accessory, but they are sold on the Blackberry’s ability to get them on the net and text with grace and ease. Why? Because it works. It delivers. Blackberry owns the word “work” — in its two dimensions. Get on mass transit and see who is using Blackberrys. Fill up a gym with kids – put the Blackberrys on one side, the iPhones on the other. What do you see?
Research will tell you love is strong, but it’s not reason to buy a Blackberry. This is a difficult, difficult category for brand planners. I don’t have the inside track, but I will tell you this: “Love” isn’t it. Beep, beep, beep. Peace!
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Tags: "all you need is love", Advertising, apple, beatles, blackberry, Brand Planning, iphone, Research in motion, whats the idea, whatstheidea
Was it me or was there an awful lot of violence in the Surer Bowl ads last night? One glaring example was the spot where octogenarian Betty White was tackled in a Snickers spot and Tim Tebow’s mom was tackled in the next spot.
Then there was the flying Dorito piercing the neck of the snack thief, a spot where everybody kept hitting or slapping each other (I’m still beside myself with laughter) and an assortment of other “people tackling people” spots. I’m no prude, but this was just boorish.
Is this the result of the violent video game phenomenon — where the lowest common denominator for the American target is slapstick violence? Granted, there were lots of commercials that did not use violence as a humor device in the Super Bowl last night. And I know football is a violent game, but how many kids are going to slap one another at school today and giggle as a result of last night’s body of work? Most people will think I’m overreacting but those at the women’s shelter won’t. A pretty embarrassing night for me. PEACE!
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Tags: Betty White, Doritos, snickers, superbowl ads, tim tebow, tv commercials, whats the idea, whatstheidea
Back in the day, most great writers went to work at a newspaper, magazine or ad agencies if they didn’t write books. This is still pretty much the case but today they have a new outlet for their craft the “blog.”
Blogs can be an entrée to jobs at print properties and ad agencies but they can also be an exit. The latter route – the exit – is growing and will continue to grow. Take A.O. Scott, the film reviewer for the New York Times. Mr. Scott is a wonderful writer and movie critic. Many believe his words and spend their hard-earned based upon his reviews. But he is one lone voice in the ink and digits that is The New York Times. A.O. Scott’s content is of value…he is an important brand. Were he to focus his craft on his own blog he could make some serious (cash). Today, Mr. Scott can choose to become a personal publishing brand and do things he couldn’t think of doing while at the NYT. (Not saying he will, it’s just an example.)
Today, a percent of great writers with mass appeal are getting out of the journalism business and get into the blogging business. In the blogosphere there will be lots of dreck… but there will also be a great deal of commercial successes. Blogging is a powerful, powerful medium (my blog aside, hee hee.) Peace!
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Tags: A.O. Scott, blogging, journalism, magazine, new york times, newspaper, whats the idea, whatstheidea
Cisco and AOL both reported earnings today. Cisco, maker of Internet plumbing, had a very nice turnaround ; AOL posted its first profit since de-coupling from Time Warner – a penny a share. Not bad, all things considered.
Cisco Systems
If you follow Cisco you know they have invested in getting more people to push more bits over the Internet. Think Gillette getting people to shave their entire bodies. (Okay, bad analogy.) Cisco has pushed videoconferencing for years and not too long ago bought Flip the hot video camera company. The more digital info that goes over the net, the more routers and switches and stock Cisco sells.
Aol
This is exactly the approach Aol needs to take. Aol makes money on advertising so it needs to create content that makes more eyeballs and fingers go to their sites. Right now that means hiring great writers, videographers, creative people and buying and adding to the fold well-trafficked sites. Better content, better audience numbers. But Aol is not really thinking out of the box yet. It needs to come up with content types that haven’t been done. As the Brits might say, they need to be more inno-vit-iv. How about an easy to use, easy to read email device for the AARP crowd? Or an educational games for infants? Or a remote home automation portal that lets you turn on lights from the street? Aol is still thinking in 2 dimensions, a la a publisher. Like Cisco, Mr. Armstrong needs to feed the beast. Let’s pick it up!
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Tags: AOL, cisco systems, flip video camera, Tim Armstrong, time warner, whats the idea, whatstheidea
Back with a flourish.
Back in the day, so the story goes, Smith and Wollensky’s Steak House was about to close its doors for lack of business. Poppe Tyson and creative director Fergus O’Daly created an ad for them – a full page in The New York Times – with a life-size picture of a Smith and Wollensky’s matchbook in the lower right corner atop a small headline: “Finally a match for the Palm and Christ Cella.” The rest, as they say, is history.
Steak for Stock
Today in that same New York Times Smith and Wollensky continues its great run of print advertising with “Steak for Stock.” Not sure if Alan Stillman (CEO) is still behind the advertising but it certainly feels like him. The “Steak for Stock” ad invites you to bring in valid stock certificates in exchange it for a juicy, aged and perfectly charred sirloin. Can’t you just smell the certificate paper?
Smith and Wollensky has made a living with its wit, its wine, its relevance and its meat and spinach. I’m probably borrowing this from Ben Benson’s, another brilliant NY steak house, but Smith and Wollensky’s is, indeed, the quintessential NY steak house. Great to see them mixing it up again. Peace!
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Tags: Advertising, Alan Stillman, Ben Bensons, Christ cella, Fergus o’daly, ny steak house, poppe Tyson, Smith and Wollensky, stock for steak, The Palm, whatstheidea. whats the idea
The World Economic Summit currently underway in Davos Switzerland should be recreated once a year for all the leaders of the advertising and marketing communities. We should probably throw in a few economists just to keep the event grounded; after all, the real prize is money.
The polyglot array of marketing agencies which make up client rosters today is insanely inefficient and needs to be fixed. Some big global companies have 50 plus ad agencies. Add to that public relations shops, direct marketing companies, digital, events/promotions, and the newly coined social media shops and you can begin to imagine the waste. The donut and bagel budget alone must be incalculable. And all the people needed to effectively manage these many agents is also a big honkin’ number. Plus communications, travel, entertainment, etc. Smart agencies and holding companies should take the lead on this — but that’s not likely to happen.
Davos for Marketers will, no doubt, be held in Cincinnati and it should be broken into two parts: all agencies then agencies plus marketers. No golf, no awards, no spousal programs, just hard work intended to optimize the silos, the workflow, outputs, integration, proper spending and measurement. I suspect the first year will be a mess. — metal detectors will be a good idea – but the reality is, for marketers and their agents it will be an important step toward building a more effective marketing future. Peace!
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Tags: ad agencies, davos, davos for marketers, digital, direct marketing, events, marketing silos, promotions, public relations, social media, whats the idea, whatstheidea
I read in the paper paper this weekend about O.K.R.s, which stands for Objectives and Key Results. The measures, espoused by VC general John Doerr, were developed by Intel and, supposedly, are used by Google. The idea is that “the whole company and every group has one objective and three measureable key results.” Whether the objective and results are the same across the company is unknown, but I’ll look into it. Focus is important. And strategic.
What I do know is that this O.K.R. approach nicely mirrors the schema I use for brand planning: one powerful branding idea, supported by three brand planks – the collective power of which is unique to the market and business-winning for the brand.
ROS
Return on Strategy (ROS) is the antidote for ROI. While the latter focuses on marketing transaction payout and marketing tactics, ROS works to measure strategy against key business indicators (sales, share, retention, quality, employees). As we enter the marketing landscape, here referred to as “tactics-palooza,” we need to more and more measure strategy. Peace it up!
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Tags: google, Intel, John Doerr, marketing roi, okr, okrs, return on strategy, roi, ros, tactics-palooza, whats the idea, whatstheidea
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