Offlining — Right Idea, but What About the Message?

Posted on August 30, 2010 at 7:14 pm

I love the idea of “offlining,” asking families to take a pledge of device-free time to focus on real-life communication. More than 10,000 people have signed their pledge to have at least 10 device-free dinners between now and Thanksgiving. I like the statement of the guys behind it about where it came from (even if they make the unforgivable mistake of writing “it’s” when it should be “its” — I will correct it below):

We persuade for a living.

We’ve devoted much of the last couple of decades to convincing you to log on, click here, call now, surf, search, pay bills in your underwear, trade from the beach, add “friends” to your digital network and, as AT&T once famously promised in their “You Will” campaign, tuck your children in from your mobile device.

Then one day we made a mistake — we looked up. We took our eyes off the screen long enough to see. We noticed we had kids and wives. We took in the way leaves open their faces to the sun. We reacquainted ourselves with the sounds birds make. And we realized these things could no longer compete.

We marketers had won!

All around us, all the heads in all the malls, airports and train stations seemed bowed in reverence to the device. Life had become multi-screen, multi-task, multi-plexed, mashed-up, an unrelieved contest for diminishing attention. And those who use the media professionally were perhaps the most inundated of all.

…..

We’re not fundamentalists. We’re not anti-marketing. In fact, we love marketing and we respect its power, which is why we’re committed to applying our expertise to the important things. And we’re not anti-technology — on the contrary, we love technology and all it can do for us. But we’re only going to enjoy those benefits if we learn to use the Off Button.

They’re calling for a device-free Yom Kippur (sunset of Sept 17-sunset of Sept 18 this year), not just for Jews but for everyone, to re-connect with friends and family. As noted above, they are marketing guys, and their ads are provocative and some may find them offensive, with photos of scandal-prone celebrities whose electronic communications have gotten them in trouble: Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, and Tiger Woods. They would say that it is necessary to get people’s attention and I suppose that my writing this right now shows that it worked.

Target Spoils ‘Free to Be’

Posted on August 17, 2010 at 3:49 pm

I’m glad to see I am not the only one who is sorry to see Target use the classic “Free to Be You and Me” song in its ads.

The song from The New Seekers is a special memory for many people who grew up in the 70’s and 80’s. It was the title song in an album about equality, tolerance, respect, and understanding our feelings. There was also a book and a television special.

Now Target has used the song in an ad, equating being yourself with buying stuff to express your individuality. It’s completely contrary to the original intent of the song and a real shame.

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Advertising Commentary

Marketing ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ and Missing the Point

Posted on August 8, 2010 at 3:41 pm

Elizabeth Gilbert’s journey to Italy, India, and Indonesia became a wildly popular book, endorsed by Oprah and beloved by book clubs. This week, the movie starring Julia Roberts opens in theaters, and fans will be able to see the story unfold in the actual locations.
They will also be able to buy many, many trinkets. Sandy Cohen of AP reports that an onslaught of “EPL” merchandise is about to be launched. We are used to the idea that movies for children will have tie-ins on products from snack food to sleeping bags, but this is the first “chick flick” to be turned into an infomercial.

Stores will be flooded with all things “Eat, Pray, Love.” Look for candles and moisturizing creams; jewelry, bookmarks and tote bags; a dedicated shop at Cost Plus World Markets featuring furniture, food and clothing inspired by the film; a branded digital reader pre-loaded with the book; a Republic of Tea blend; a line of designer clothing by Sue Wong; and a weekend special on HSN filled with products pegged to the movie, including prayer beads, scarves and hundreds of other items from the countries the story’s main character visits during her quest for self.

The book, of course, is about transcendence and spiritual values. Anyone who has read it knows that you don’t get satisfaction from cheesy tschotskes. The book is about authenticity, purpose, and meaning and anyone who thinks you can get that with a tote bag or face cream missed the point. Unless you can put in an order for James Franco or Javier Bardem, I recommend you skip it.

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Advertising

More Happy Meal Toys for Kids Promoting PG-13 Movies

Posted on August 5, 2010 at 8:00 am

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is asking McDonald’s to stop giving children Marvel comics toys that promote violent PG-13 movies.

The fast food giant’s latest giveaway for preschool boys features eight Marvel comic action figures, including The Human Torch, a man engulfed in flames, and The Thing, which menacingly roars “IT’S CLOBBERIN’ TIME!” at the press of a button.

It’s bad enough to use junk toys to sell children on junk food. But now, for preschool boys, a so-called happy meal at McDonald’s features the horrifying spectacle of a man on fire and a menacing figure that explicitly spurs them to violence.

To sign their letter to McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner, visit the CCFC website. You can also read the report issued by CCFC last month about food company expenditures of well over $1.6 billion to market their products to children and teenagers.

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Advertising Marketing to Kids

How Did Old Spice Get So Cool?

Posted on July 22, 2010 at 3:24 pm

How do you advertise a scent on television? And how do you make a product that was around in your grandfather’s era and has no connection to a celebrity or fashion label seem cool?

You do it with charm, wit, and low-key sales pitch that lets people discover and re-discover it for themselves. Old Spice, once associated with other antiquated brands 60’s medicine cabinet like Ipana, Brylcreem, and Hai Karate, has had a surprising resurgence, starting with a Super-Bowl ad, followed by viral, interactive videos.

Craig Reiss of Entrepreneur.com thinks this is an indicator of very big changes in advertising.

Last week we saw two days that shook the viral marketing world. Old Spice, a long-neglected — if not forgotten — Procter & Gamble brand unleashed a social media blitz that may have changed the rules of social network marketing.

The Super Bowl ad features former NFL player Isaiah Mustafa and it’s theme appears to be addressed to the women in the audience: your man might not look like him, but he can smell like him. Why to women? First, who do men want to smell good for? Second, who actually buys it?

The commercials were appealing, with a light touch.

What really took off happened five months later.

Wieden posted a simple message on Old Spice’s Facebook and Twitter page: “Today could be just like the other 364 days you log into Twitter, or maybe the Old Spice Man shows up @Old Spice.” And show up he did.

As people tweeted questions about manliness to the Old Spice Man, he began posting near-real-time video vignettes responding to the queries, all in character and with no small degree of humor as he stood bare-chested, abdominals front and center in a bathroom set with the creative crew and comedy copywriters of Wieden + Kennedy behind the camera furiously writing jokes and chasing down props.

In a two-day blitz, the team produced more than 180 video “shout-outs,” including a marriage proposal (she accepted) and exchanges with celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres, Demi Moore, Christina Applegate, Alysa Milano, George Stephanopoulos, Olympics speed skater Apolo Ohno, gossip blogger Perez Hilton, tech gadget blog Gizmodo, Stanley Cup champions Chicago Blackhawks and Starbucks (which now has 10 million fans on Facebook).

Instead of spending millions of dollars buying time on the broadcast networks, which recently posted another dispiriting set of eroding viewership numbers, the Old Spice team uploaded them — at no cost — to Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. They quickly got almost 600,000 “likes” on Facebook and seven millions views on YouTube — not people who fast-forward thought an ad as they watch a show on their DVR but people who specifically chose to watch.

Reiss’ shrewd assessment of what works here is well worth reading. In particular, he notes the personalized, interactive, and viral nature of this campaign.

That is at the core of the Old Spice phenomenon. People started competing to be witty or provocative, making their best bets on what would intrigue the Old Spice Man to want to respond to them. Many thousands did not get a response, but it seemed like all of them did. And the ones that didn’t kept trying harder to impress the Man. Also, every blogger or celebrity who did get a response wrote about it. It was a badge of honor.

We can expect many more brands to pick up on this approach — and most of them will find out that it is not easy to be as engaging and innovative as Old Spice, two terms no one would have thought of applying to that brand a few weeks ago. For a trip down memory lane, see below.