Communications Arts: 50 Years of Excellence

Communications Arts, probably the creative industry's preeminent bible, just released a retrospective for the past 50 years. They highlight some of the most memorable design, advertising and other creative efforts over the past five decades. These were a few that I found to be rather interesting.

1962: NBC publishes an advertisement announcing that more than two-thirds of their programming will now be in color.
1971: Nike commissions student artist Carol Davidson to design its iconic Swoosh logo. Her fee was $35.
1974: 7-Up unveils the "Uncola" campaign.
1979: Print ad for BMW 7 Series touts that a $30,000 car shouldn't require compromises.
1980: Helvetica typeface introduced.
1983: Wendy's "Where's the Beef" campaign hits airways.
1984: Bartles & Jaymes "...thank you for your support.." of their wine coolers.
1988: Joe Isuzu makes the car company a household brand. 21 years later and the company's market share in the US is non-existent.
1991: GM introduces the Saturn brand. It has yet to be profitable.
2001: Before YouTube and viral videos, BMW launching online film series "The Hire," of which I had something to do with in my agency days, by the way.
2002: Campaign launched to introduce MINI Cooper to the US, which I was also involved with.
2005: Geico introduces "So easy, a Caveman can do it."

Value, Loyalty Matter: We've Heard that Before

Even in a down economy, a study shows that perceived value and loyalty prevail over price. In fact, consumer expectations regarding brand value went up 20% this year. A total of 441 brands in 62 categories were included and measured by loyalty only, not awareness or satisfaction.

Sixty-nine (69) brands won highest levels of loyalty. The biggest winners were Avis, JetBlue, Bank of America, Zyrtec, Sam Adams, Cheerios, Allstate, Dunkin' Donuts, Mary Kay, Kodak, W Hotels, Scottrade, Iams, McDonald's, Grey Goose, ABC TV, Nike, Apple, Wal-Mart, the NFL and Tom's of Maine.

In the age of social media hype, it emphasizes the need for positive brand discussion and satisfaction among chatter as well as product elements that people perceive as the best value for the money in a competitive landscape. In other words, this is more relevant that ever.

Source: My good buddy Karl Greenberg @ Mediapost

Mr. Roarke Worked his Magic for Chrysler Too

Perhaps he was best known for his role as Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island and to us, dedicated fans, as the cow on Family Guy. But there’s one more success that Ricardo Montalban deserves some serious credit for—saving Chrysler the first time.

Amid the gas crisis of the 1970s and many failed models, Chrysler was facing certain death until the launch of its low-cost answer to popular competitor models including the two-door Lincoln Continental, the Chevy Monte Carlo and Pontiac Grand Prix.

With Montalban as its pitchman, the Chrysler Cordoba eventually went on to count for more than 60% of Chrysler’s sales in one year and even managed to beat out Pontiac’s highly popular Grand Prix.

Credit his eloquent pronunciation of “Corrr-do-ba” or “Corinthian” (see commercial below), but the model essentially helped the company stay afloat until it found subsequent successes under Lee Iacocca with models like the K.

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As Economy Falters, Where’s the Innovation?

For the second month in a row, China reported a decline in exports--This time, by nearly three percent and hundreds of workers are losing their jobs. This is a major decline for the cheap producer of global products and just the beginning of the ripple that the country is beginning to feel since the financial crisis began.

Adding insult to injury, Sony is reporting its first loss since 1995 and it will be a major $1.1 billion. Due in part to heavy spending during the holiday season that didn’t produce the results the electronics giant was looking for.

Even in this crisis, companies dabbled in social media and search marketing but continued to spend the majority of their budgets on traditional efforts while ignoring opportunities to slash costs and speak to their best buyer profiles, directly.

Some of the blame lies with the agencies that keep pushing high cost tactics and are reluctant to understand and fully embrace more strategic methods--Working their way towards a pink slip at the very same time.

I was interviewed by a reporter recently that asked me why these tactics are so important and it kind of just rolled off my tongue.

“It’s no longer about casting the widest net and hoping the 10% you need will respond, but rather speaking to that 10% directly and trimming the waste.”

Recessions often generate innovation but fresh ideas among the biggest marketers seem to be slim. Wouldn’t it be nice to see the bailout conditions include revising marketing plans to include more cost saving innovation?

Follow Up: Residents Owed Approximately $20,000 Per Household

Last October, we worked with St. Petersburg Times reporter Tom Zucco on this story on behalf of our client, the Merlin Law Group. It chronicled the hardships of 48 low-income families in Central Florida that were hit by Hurricane Charley, and then subsequently low balled by their insurer United Casualty, a division of Unitrin.

After the suits were filed, United made a successful bid to have the cases put into appraisal. A process whereby an independent source would determine how much, if anything, the insured were underpaid by. Perhaps it wasn’t the best decision on their part.

As reported, again by the St. Petersburg Times, the total underpaid amount for all residents was determined to be just under $1 Million at $944,056. Looking at the underpayment for each policyholder revealed an average underpayment of about $20,000 per household.

With a branded glass tower at 1 Wacker Drive in Chicago and over $3 billion in revenues (that’s billion with a B), that’s not even a quarter of the $6.5 million Unitrin CEO Richard C. Vie made, according to Forbes.

Merlin Law Group attorney David Pettinato and resident Betty Cooper were also asked to share their story and perspective on the situation on the Ft. Myers CBS affiliate.

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Disney Bolts to YouTube

There’s no website, no commercials and no exclusives on Access Hollywood. In fact, you can try Googleing Bolt and you’ll only catch a glimpse of what I’m referring to via an Internet Movie Database listing and Wikipedia page.

But check out YouTube and you’ll see the trailer for the upcoming Disney-Pixar movie, due this Thanksgiving, is spreading like wildfire while not even as much as a single poster has appeared in theaters.

This is of course not the first time this has been done, but it is an example of how important viral activity and venues like YouTube have become to even the biggest marketers in the world.

With no lack of budget to be spent, Disney is making use of the viral potential Bolt cast member Miley Cyrus provides as an often-searched term. Makes you wonder if studios will start casting actors based on their Google status.

What’s also curious is they’ve managed to break the no double dipping rule, but without actually double dipping. Here they are building buzz around Bolt without taking attention away from their just released Wall-E, which currently sits atop the box office.

(see blog for video)

However, this tactic has proven to backfire on some. Janet Jackson tried to launch her last album on YouTube by dropping the video for her single Feedback. While it did get some attention, some say it was done at the expense of offending the mainstream media, which provided much less hoopla around the album’s launch and sales were lackluster.

Perhaps she should have tried some shtick, like vacuuming a couch.

What was MasterCard Thinking?

Every time I think MasterCard’s Priceless campaign has run its course, they seem to redeem themselves. But now I think they’re just grasping at ideas.

If the most important audience to credit cards is college students, why are they using the character from a half-baked Saturday Night Live skit that aired in the late 70s when their key audience was still in diapers.

I understand the potential in introducing old school comedy to a new generation, but the humor of Mr. Bill is far too bland for the sophisticated tastes of today’s 20-somethings.



Perhaps this user-generated idea (insert Parental Warning) would have been more relevant.

Obama Camp uses Creative and Internet Tools to Innovate

The screen shot says it all.

Obama’s Campaign has really done a great job of mixing the tools of internet marketing with powerful creative and some intelligence to maximize its opportunity.

Their use of CNN’s story layout, key word matching tools and user data turned prime real estate into an easy opportunity for the viewer to click and learn more, perhaps even to clear up anything the story might be reporting, such as "trust."

It's a quick jump from the story highlights—a favorite feature of the CNN website and they’re probably even using some of that data to put a more flattering photo of Obama next to what is likely not to be so for McCain.

While there is some luck involved in creating that perfect match, we can probably assume that Obama has several ad variations running on CNN, matching different keyword and user data points.

I takes a bit of that tenacity I speak about, but their campaign has plenty of it. They have benefited from what has been learned during an impressive and aggressive online campaign thus far.

Tenacity Nets Ripest Fruit in Google Advertising

There’s a lot of talk lately about how much Google Adword marketing costs. Recent reports suggest that advertising behemoth WPP group spends nearly $900 million a year on client Google Adword campaigns. On a smaller scale, a friend of mine works for a very specialized software company that spends nearly $4000 a month.

While I’ll admit it isn’t cheap, some of it is wasteful spending on the part of those running the campaigns. Those that see things with a bit of an old school perspective have yet to grasp the use of real-time data and experimentation. It’s easy to get lost in the idea that success can only be found through the highest bid, which isn’t necessarily true.

We were recently asked to retool a client’s Adword campaign. In about a month, we managed to cut the budget by a third while seeing inquiries increase by 95%. Equally, the quality of the lead improved with about half of those inquiries actually becoming clients.

While some Google science is involved, the beginnings of a successful campaign combines tenacity and creative copy writing:

• Variations: Trying multiple ad variations will give you an idea of what works best
• Be specific: Create specific ads for niche markets and keywords as one size does not fit all
• Relevant Landing Page: Get past the idea that it’s like a newspaper ad where people pick up the phone and call. Getting them to click is half the battle but where they land after that still requires selling
• Monitoring the Incoming Results: People ignore the best data resource available—inquiries. Set up a system for monitoring inquiries, where they come from and what they search for.

I’ll admit that another large challenge is learning how to use all those Google tools to maximize results. That’s the portion that can take a campaign beyond the tipping point and can be overwhelming to those who are trying to “manage the shop” at the same time. However, the opportunity to reach the exact person looking for you is incredible.

Madison Ave's Reluctance Starting to Show

As the largest gathering among the advertising industry in the world, Cannes has been closely watched as the place where great ideas come from. Yet, today’s advertising column in The New York Times shows an industry that is reluctant to accept change.

The report centers around the argument that giants like Google are entrenching on agencies’ turf by removing creativity from the process and replacing it with highly technical applications.

What a bunch of whiners! I mean, how long can agencies deny that change is coming and it includes more accountability. I’m really surprised agencies don’t see it as opportunity to expand their business.

Online ad campaigns, for example, are highly involved and require the use of highly targeted tools, robust creative, media buying services and a need for specific landing pages that consumers view upon clicking on an ad. This is in addition to the creation of the creative and messaging opens up agencies to whole new revenue streams as they control the brand message.

What this trend does change is the “one size fits all”, wider net approach agencies have used for years. Paying top dollar to reach millions at a time is becoming less relevant.

In its place is the opportunity for better results, leaner media buying budgets, real-time data and plain old quality over quantity.