How Mad Men is doing it wrong.
August 26, 2008
Imagine this for a second.
You’re producing a very successful television show. You have a loyal following. You can’t open a magazine or newspaper, or read a blog, without seeing a pile of praise heaped on your show. Popularity is rising. Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon.
You’ve helped create something that’s difficult to make: a critically acclaimed television show that is receiving tons of public attention.
Everything’s looking good.
Now imagine that a group of fans hops on the Internet and starts emulating the characters in the show. They are true to the nuances of the program. They are gaining quite a following on their own, in fact, leading those who love the show to become even more involved during the six days in between new episodes. They are promoting your product in a fresh, original way.
Why would you sabotage that?
I’m not sure. Let’s ask the creators of Mad Men.
It’s no question that Mad Men, the AMC drama about advertising life at fictional 60s shop Sterling Cooper, has gained a big following. So it’s no surprise that, given this era of global online marketing, someone was bound to take the Mad Men idea and make it better. And they did – on Twitter, of all places. (What is Twitter? Watch this video.)
What this group has done is take the personalities of the main characters from Mad Men and created a series of online avatars. Acting out the parts. Furthering the behind the scenes identities of the characters. Being as completely true to the original concept as possible. Go ahead – ask them questions. They’ll answer in the way you’d expect the character to answer.
The only problem: they’re not AMC employees. Just fans. And now, AMC is forcing Twitter to suspend these accounts (via VentureBeat) due to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
I understand copyrights, and I get that AMC thinks they’re protecting their intellectual property. But this is fan fiction. This is like telling a group of Star Trek fans that they can no longer dress up as their favorite characters. Because that’s exactly what this is – it’s a group of fans dressing up, using an Internet avatar instead of a pair of pointed ears.
Even more, this is a golden opportunity; to create a cult following, to promote the television show in new ways. Don’t suspend them – heck, HIRE THEM. Give them a stipend to keep the banter up. Use them to your advantage. I’d guarantee that almost every one of them would accept some kind of payment for doing something they loved doing for free.
Because even though it isn’t an official series of accounts, the Mad Men doppelgangers are more than just fictitious slander magnets. They are an extension of the characters that many of us have grown to love. Fans of Mad Men get it. Those who aren’t fans are intrigued. Awareness is rising.
And for AMC, apparently, this is a bad thing. As if they don’t realize the public relations dream this could turn into to.
The goal in today’s marketing world is to be embraced by those who follow you. To be allowed into the precious circle of permission marketing. To gain feedback from those who know your product best. Business models are based on taking free publicity and working with it, not against it. Consumer generated content. Letting the people speak freely, feel comfortable and, in turn, become loyal.
In other words – before you rush to grab the lawyers, take a chance. See if the road bumps in your path can actually help you before tearing them down.
Introducing Wabli’
June 19, 2008
You never quite know what a client’s going to ask for. And sometimes you never quite know if you’ll be able to pull it off.
Our client, The First National Bank in Sioux Falls, came to us with one of these requests: a mascot to help promote high-return children’s savings accounts.
It turned out to be pretty cool.
Wabli’ (which stands for “Eagle” in Lakota) is the mascot version of The First National Bank in Sioux Falls’s iconic eagle statue and logo. And he/she took a tour of bank branches, showing off his style and preening his polyester wings.
Wabli’ and The First National Bank in Sioux Falls’s Executive Vice President Bill Baker.
Wabli’ standing beneath his shape-sake, the original FNB eagle statue.
Attempting a heist.
Relaxing after a hard day of strutting around with a head that’s seventeen times larger than it should be.
And just like that, a new mascot is born – from idea to reality, Wabli’ is now among us.
We think.
May 15, 2008
Blogs, wikis, etc. They all allow us to participate in the sharing of ideas, a constant conversation that has proven to produce some pretty big results.
So what’s this century all about? Mass innovation. And this movie - promoting Charles Leadbeater’s new book We Think - sums it all up pretty nicely.
Fear the underdog
May 6, 2008
“You got no time for the messenger,
got no regard for the thing that you don’t understand,
you got no fear of the underdog,
that’s why you will not survive!”
– “The Underdog,” Spoon
Being the best is an honor and privilege.
It’s something you’ve gained through years of hard work and smart thinking. Being the best takes a keen marketing mind and a little bit of luck. It takes a different look at the industry – an expertise that no one else can offer.
But don’t forget. The best didn’t start that way. The best built themselves up from the bottom. The best overcame another “bests.” The best was once #2. And #3. And #10.
Now that you’ve made it, now that you’re at the top, the worst thing you can do is think you’re untouchable.
You’re not.
Because just like you were once a eager startup, or an unproven talent, or a free-thinking self-employed vendor, there are hundreds out there trying to outthink you. And they’ll surely outthink you, my friends.
If you let them.
Never stop asking for the business. Never stop thinking. Keep improving. Think five years ahead. Anticipate trends and create marketing with the future in mind. Solidify your brand and wipe out weaknesses.
Stay relevant. Embrace change. Take risks. Be willing to accept that the industry – whatever industry that may be – is always moving ahead.
If you stay stagnant, you can bet the gap will start narrowing. And once your competitors have momentum on their side, they’re difficult to stop.
Always fear the underdog. It’s the only way to survive.
Benefit over matter
April 22, 2008
We’ve all done it before, usually out of necessity.
We’ve created ads that are jam packed with information. We just start plugging things in. This element has to be there. That element cannot be taken out. My boss will freak if she doesn’t see the logo a little bigger. Here’s a list of features to add. And we have a special promotion that needs to be included. Don’t forget the Web site, both phone numbers, our seventeen locations and the names of each of our managers.
And by the way, the ad needs to be a little smaller.
It happens all the time. Each company has a lot to say in a very small space. But when it comes down to it, how much of it is necessary?
At a recent SDAF luncheon, Steve Lance of Unconventional Wisdom talked about how often advertising and marketing is driven by a list of features that the reader is expected to extrapolate into a perceived benefit. Really, Steve says, it should be the other way around. The benefit should be front and center. The details can come later.
What are you going to promote? A vehicle’s 3rd Generation Swiss-Engineered Classically Mounted ABS Brakes? Or a vehicle’s unprecedented safety (which, coincidentally, happens to be due to those aforementioned brakes).
Imagine your typical cable television remote. Of the 75 buttons featured, only about 10 of them really matter. Channel up and down, volume up and down, power and, to a lesser extent, the guide and record buttons. Take the rest of the buttons off and you’ve got a sleek, easy to use interface.
You know, like an iPod – the single most popular electronic device of this generation.
Your message could be the same. Why mention every single product feature when your audience really just wants to know why they should care? Pare it back, wow them with some blistering creative, create an image in their mind, tell a story in ten words or less and drive them to get more information on their time, not yours.
A vehicle’s safety is going to create a stronger emotional tie than the brand of ABS brakes being used. A music device’s style and functionality is going to create more of a buzz than FM capability, multi-colored moving display, optional earphones and side-impact airbags. (Oops. Got my feature set confused).
Why make things so complicated when all you need to do is leave a lasting impression?
Promotion, with sprinkles.
July 20, 2007
Initially, I was lukewarm about seeing The Simpsons Movie.
I haven’t watched the show in years, though I’ve always liked it. Like many of us, I spent plenty of hours watching The Simpsons re-runs in the commons area at my dorm, in my college apartments, and at my friend’s house once I graduated.
I thought I had seen it all, really. What else can The Simpsons do that could cover the two hours a movie commonly lasts?
And then, suddenly, I was sucked in again. I was ready to see the movie. I hoped it would come out tomorrow, even.
What happened?
I became part of The Simpsons’ universe.
The Simpsons Movie isn’t being promoted simply through trailers and word of mouth, both of which would have been sufficient in and of themselves. If that was the case, I’d still be ho-hum about it. I’d still wonder what the big deal could possibly be about, still thinking I’d seen it all.
But instead of resting on the laurels of its name and its reputation as being an edgy, always funny, long running cartoon sitcom, The Simpsons Movie is going an extra step. It’s putting you in Springfield, Wherever. It’s putting you not just in the theatre, but in the cartoon’s universe through several clever and amazing stunts.
First, go to The Simpsons Movie website. Create your own avatar. That’s you, only as a Simpsons character. Sure, it’s good for hours of wasted time, but it’s even more amazing to see yourself as one of the popular yellow skinned, four fingered characters.
Then, find one of the 12 7-11 stores that were miraculously turned into a Kwik-E-Mart. Walk in, and get lost in all of the Simpsons regalia. Krusty Os? Buzz Cola? Pink doughnuts with sprinkles? It’s all there. You’ve got to see it to believe it: Click Here for the Pictures.
Why does this work?
Because everyone knows who The Simpsons are. But none of us can ever have the chance to be in the same situations. It’s a cartoon, you know? The Simpsons’ Springfield is unable to be replicated.
Until now. Now, you’re able to put yourself where you’ve never been able to. And in doing that, you’re connecting yourself perfectly.
It’s also working because it’s different. People who think they’ve seen all that The Simpsons have to offer are being given another direction to look in. And once you’ve seen yourself at Moe’s Tavern, you’re suddenly reenergized to see the movie.
Now where did I set my pink doughnut?
One of 12 7-11s turned into a Kwik-E-Mart.
A jagged little “brand”
June 4, 2007
Post Haste will be up and running again, soon. Just let me get out from under my pile.
Until then, I bring you the new logo for the London 2012 Olympics.
A world wide spotlight. A huge event that will bring millions into the city. The freakin’ Olympics, right? And this…THIS is the best they could come up with? This looks like it’s representing the 1994 Olympics.
It looks a little dated, is all I’m saying.
Of course, who am I to criticize - I couldn’t create a logo if my job depended on it. That’s not really the point. Aside from this logo being ugly, my beef is that the London 2012 Committee keeps calling this logo a “brand.”
From the London 2012 website:
The new London 2012 brand was designed by Wolff Ollins. The design brief was for an emblem that represented the four key ‘brand pillars’ of access, participation, stimulation and inspiration, culminating in the brand vision of ‘Everyone’s Games’.
A brand can’t be created out of thin air, like a headline or logo. A brand is the result of years of experience and the feelings and thoughts of your customer. A brand can be influenced by a logo, but it isn’t the logo itself.
Coke didn’t create a brand by using white script on a red background. Coke created a brand by offering a fun experience in every aspect of the product — from the bottle shape to the commercials to the taste itself. They painstakingly crafted a set of feelings from years of experience and carefully-tweaked messages. And even then, Coke doesn’t own the brand. Its customers will change it whenever they see fit.
The consumer decides what a company’s brand is. It’s that company’s job to lead them in the right direction and give them something TO brand.
If they try to create the brand for the consumer, the consumer won’t respond. Simply put, the consumer doesn’t want to be told what to think.
Is a brand based on what the consumer thinks?
Or is it based on what the company wants the consumer to think?
Now better tasting!
April 12, 2007
Our cereal is making a strange claim.
We just bought a box of Honeycomb cereal. Kraft foods has placed a new label on the front – Now Better Tasting!
Wait. Says who?
Who has decided that Honeycomb is truly “better tasting” than it used to be? What research have they done to back up this claim? What changes did they make?
I’m sure verbiage like this sells cereal all the time. The cereal industry has conducted plenty of focus groups on what to say and how to product their cereal.
So maybe I’m a cynic when I say, “If it’s better tasting now, what was wrong with it before?”
“Why wasn’t it the best it could be previously? And how did you quantify a subjective claim?”
So, with these questions in mind, I decided to ask. I went to kraft.com and sent an e-mail:
I have recently purchased a box of Honeycomb cereal. The box says “Now Better Tasting!” right on the front.
My question is this — how can you quantify “better tasting?” What research or changes were made to make Honeycomb “better tasting?” How can you account for personal taste on a cereal box?
I’m just a concerned customer wondering how accurate your cereal’s claims are.
Thanks,
Corey Vilhauer
Let’s see what they say. I want to know how they can make such an unquantifiable claim – to become so subjective in saying the cereal is now “better tasting.” It can’t be proven. I might not like it at all now.
Let’s see if this was an empty marketing ploy or a true-to-life statistic.
—
And the response from Kraft…
Hi Corey,
Thank you for visiting www.kraft.com/responsibility
Our policy is to be sure all advertising claims are supportable, neither false nor misleading.
Our Market Research Department conducts studies among representative groups of consumers. For nutritional claims, we make claims only after a thorough scientific analysis of the respective products involved.
We draft conclusions from studies that reflect consumers’ opinions on a national basis.
When appropriate, advertising is developed from studies. We take great care in the exact wording and overall impression of our advertising.
All advertising claims are reviewed before approval is given.
We base all of our advertising on this procedure; that is why we feel we may justifiably make such a claim.
If you haven’t done so already, please add our site to your favorites and visit us again soon!
Kim McMiller
Associate Director, Consumer Relations
In other words, this was the act of a study group. Common practice, yes. Truth (or accuracy, more specifically) in advertising, barely.
Simply put - don’t tell your customers if something tastes better. Let them figure it out for themselves. Advertise a great new taste. Promote a new recipe. Challenge the customer to try the cereal. But don’t make the judgment for them – regardless of what your study group says.
You can’t fake personal
April 11, 2007
Yesterday I received a card from my bank. On the front was the bank’s logo. Inside, hastily scribbled with handwriting like a 10-year old was the following message:
Corey – Thanks for banking with us!
- Staff
And that was it.
I know why I received this card. My bank, a major regional bank with branches all over South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota, wants to look homier. More personable. People want their banks to know who they are. They don’t want to be another number, another ledger on the bankroll of Wells Fargo or US Bank.
So my bank sent me a personalized card.
Except it didn’t feel personal – it felt scripted and hollow.
First of all, my card reeked of assembly line scribbling. The words were the same as every other card that had come before. There was no mention of the accounts I held, or any recent activity, or anything that would separate my card from anyone else’s. There was no personalized aspect to it at all, aside from the name.
Second of all, the name was wrong. My wife Kerrie shares this account with me. Her name should have been on this card as well. Another strike – they couldn’t even bother to get the account names correct.
It all reminds me of the Vice President of a company I used to work at. As managers, we were required to give our team members birthday cards to show the company cared. I took great pains to make these cards personal – to give something more than the shallow scribbles that were the minimum required.
However, the Vice President (who was in charge of sending out the manager’s cards) would simply write “Happy Birthday on the 24th” and sign his name. He would send out every card at the beginning of the month, regardless of the birth date, leading to me getting my birthday card nearly three weeks before my birthday even occurred. They were assembly line products. There was no feeling in them whatsoever aside from “I’ve got to get this done.”
Sure. I know. My bank has a lot of cards to write. They have a lot of people to connect to. That’s not the point. The point is making it look like there’s no other customer but the one you’re writing to. There’s no one else in then entire world that the bank would rather talk to, cash checks from and start savings accounts for.
If a business is going to try to play the personal slant, they’d better be ready to take the extra steps needed to ensure the message gets across. Don’t just pull the customer’s name from a list – know the customer. Have ads that connect to the customer, not ads that tell the customer what the bank should be.
Try as you may, if someone can’t be personal, they’ll never seem personal.
The simple fact is: you can’t fake personal.
Where’s the link?
April 10, 2007
Your ad. Your identity in the marketplace. You have one spot – one creative piece – each year. You place it in every magazine, newspaper and media outlet in the area. This is your baby – the Raison d’être, the pinnacle of your marketing year.
Check it again. Everything is spelled right. Your message is sound – perfectly worded by a brilliant copywriter; maybe by me if you were incredibly lucky. The design is spot on.
Did you remember your web address?
No?
Oops.
Sure, this has been said before. But I’m still amazed at how many companies forget this one simple act – the addition of a web address.
So your message is sound. So your design is beautiful. You’re forgetting the most important part of marketing – giving the customer all of the tools needed to make a decision.
Your website is an online brochure, except better – it’s being viewed by people who are genuinely interested in your product. And people don’t want to search. They want the address.
Make sure it’s on there. Don’t make your work of art irrelevant.