5 Principles for Better, Smarter, Faster Advertising

By admin | Published: February 15, 2011

Flipping through the endless case studies in all the advertising efficiency awards around the world, the claims that agencies make are somewhat astounding. ‘Increased market share by 110%’ ‘ Doubled brand awareness in less than 60 days’ ‘Grew the category by 24%’ Well, if I ran naked down the streets of Madison Avenue with a sandwich board, I’m sure I could accomplish the same, plus get some decent media coverage to boot.

But advertising and media as a proportion of GDP in the US for almost the last 100 years, since the 1920’s to be more specific, has consistently hovered around 2%. We haven’t done a great job ourselves at growing the industry.

Advertising and media have been driven to eek out efficiencies in the distribution stage. With technologies driving accurate measurement of advertising, we only find out after the fact if the widget we have produced is actually working.

The actual production of advertising now has to come under scrutiny, and by observing what other industries are doing, we can attempt to apply what is and what isn’t working.

  1. Create new boundaries – If we had $1 for every time a client asked us to ‘push the boundaries’, we obviously wouldn’t be writing this blog. From Toyota’s drive for the 100 mpg car, VW has reset the boundaries with the 200 mpg vehicle.  How’s that for a challenge?
  2. Leverage people’s gratitude and altruism – The old saying ‘Its better to give than to receive’ explains the success of sites like Wikipedia. Building this into the advertising development process through tools and communities such the teams over at Promise Communities,  taps into this intrinsic human driver. With platforms now enabling these drivers to be expressed on a scale never seen before, valuable insight and points of view can be extracted quickly and cost-effectively.
  3. Open the borders – Boeing’s supply chain for aircraft production spans 135 locations around the world.  With innovations through companies such as Jovoto, the power of the creative community can now be harnessed globally, and new approaches to creative solutions can be created from a unique (and perhaps not from your market) point of reference. And its probably cheaper, too.
  4. Recraft agency roles – No longer will creative directors be the sole owner of idea and concept generation, but their roles will morph to one of creative distiller. An effective Creative Distiller (and hey, we have to admit the terminology is pretty in line with advertising) will seek the best of the best of globally developed ideas, and aim to contextualize the creative product. With this, the creative role will shift to add greater value upstream in crafting the brief.
  5. Answer the ‘right’ question – How many times have we faced a brief with ‘Increase sales x amount’ or ‘Shift brand attributes from x to y’? The larger challenge and question of answering the role of the brand in people’s lives needs to be answered. As much as we like to think that brands we represent are top of mind for every consumer, it does comes back to that basic question of ‘How are you making my life easier/simpler/better?’.

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Aren’t There Better Ways to Spend $600,000,000,000?

By admin | Published: February 10, 2011

Estimates put the size of the global advertising industry anywhere from $450 billion to $600 billion. What a trillion dollars looks like. The fact that the industry is largely inefficient and ineffective is a topic for another day, but what if we were just to ask ‘What If?’

We love the idea of putting that mountain of cash to better use, along the lines of thinking with Dave Droga. ‘Advertising (and brand work) that is in sync with what consumers want can indeed be impactful beyond just selling product or improving brand perception – but also contributing to social good.’ Nicely put, Dave.

The UNICEF Tap Project, the Puma Shoebox, the Kiva project aside, here are some of our favorite and little known examples of how brands are trying to do the right thing.

  • Mobile Billboards in Ghana – There are enough challenges for children to get to school, never mind those in developing countries.  Mobile advertising on the side of tricycles not only ensure a free and fast ride to school, but also doubles as employment for local drivers.
  • Social Vibe – Tapping into social networks for social good.  We love what these guys do.  Using brands as a platform and an enabler to connect consumers with social causes, they tap into motivated consumers to create social currency and give something back.  Read more about them here and watch this ongoing drive to where profit, planet, people and purpose meet.
  • Vicks Road to Relief – P&G helping with the fight against measles in developing countries.  Easy to understand, straightforward benefit, with over 2.5 million children immunized through UNICEF as a result.
  • Tackling HIV with Mobile Phones – With one of the fastest growing mobile phone markets in the world, over 80% of the population carries one around.  Utilizing unused space at the end of text messages, the space is used for safe sex and HIV awareness messages.

So, now what can we do with the rest of the $599,990,000,000?

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Agencies need to embrace the ‘C-Word’

By admin | Published: February 10, 2011

And what a dirty word it is.  But if agencies are to thrive and adapt in the 21st century, Collaboration will not just enable their success, but will be critical to their survival.  And by collaboration, we mean collaboration with customers, clients, creative talent globally, to name a few.  We tackle 5 preconceptions that agencies have about that ‘c-word’, but ultimately the new opportunities it will create.

Myth #1 – It will remove our power base with clients.

Clients are interested in a solution that works, not how and where the solution came from.  Collaboration does not mean loss of control, but a way of working that develops and encourages differing points of view toward a single goal.  But then you are assuming you have a power base.

Myth #2 – We should have the answer ourselves.

Agencies need to look within and be completely honest about their core strengths and capabilities.  A great agency should know what they are great at, and approach a challenge with humility to know that you just might not have the answer.  But know how and where to get the answer will help you manage and create the best solution.

Myth #3 – We don’t want to compete with others – why let them in the door?

Pushing the boundaries of what can be accomplished needs a healthy competitive environment.  Competitive, but healthy tension ensures thinking goes above and beyond and does not slip into path of least resistance.  Co-operative competition drives organizations and individuals to excel.

Myth #4 – We already collaborate internally and with our clients.

Like a horse wearing blinders to keep him focused on the task at hand and to be free from disruption, failing to collaborate with external partners leads you down a single path.  Collaborate with people that take you out of your comfort zone, and pick up a new perspective along the way.

Myth #5 – We’ve tried it and it doesn’t work.

We hate to tell you this, but you’re going to have to try it again.  Collaboration in creative industries is not easy.  Establishing ‘Rules for Collaboration’ upfront ensure egos are managed, conflict is dealt with, and momentum is maintained.  The same model and approach may not work for each and every solution you are trying to develop.

Check out these guys – Victors and Spoils.  Well and truly the future of advertising?

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What Really Won at the Superbowl – Cuteness

By admin | Published: February 10, 2011

That’s right.  Cuteness won.  VW’s ‘The Force’ was dead on.  Imagine all those big, burly wannabe jocks clustered around their TV, surrounded by bowls of Frito Lays and a growing pile of empty beer bottles.

And right out of left field (yeah, we know this is football), this mini Darth Vader pops on the screen.  Flashbacks to when this pseudo-jocky mob were doing exactly the same thing 20-odd years ago.  Decked out in the Darth Vader gear, stalking Luke Skywalker around the neighbourhood, who was ultimately a friend of theirs dressed up in their Dad’s old white bathrobe or karate outfit cut down to size.  A swig of beer, eyes drawn back to the set, and Bullseye.  Back in the nostalgic time machine.

So, why is this ad working?

  • Perfect mirroring of the target audience during a carefree time of their life.  And what better time to do it when you’re free (at least for a Sunday) of all the constraints and responsibilities that adulthood has brought upon you?
  • Story first. Selling the VW second.  People don’t watch ads that are interesting, but they watch interesting things.
  • There is no doubt about the emotion it creates.  Considering it reached over 53 million households, the longer version has been viewed over 16 million times on youtube.  By choice.  And they’re still counting.
  • It stills sells the point of difference for the car. (Thought we would throw that one in for the clients out there.)

And never mind the Dark Lord innocence portrayed by 6 year old actor, Max Page.  When asked in a recent interview if he enjoyed the movie Star Wars, he innocently replied, ‘I’ve never seen it.’  And when asked about Darth Vader, it was even more priceless.  ’I have no idea who that guy is,’ he said.

P.S. We’ve had a couple of requests to post a link to the ad, but as far as we’re concerned if you haven’t seen it yet, we just can’t be bothered.

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5 Great Things about Advertising in 2011

By admin | Published: February 10, 2011
  1. There is no such thing as scarcity – From ideas to online media inventory and channels, we now have an infinite platform from which to pick, choose and play.  For the risk-adverse, this should be a playground for experimentation, innovation and inspiration, but few have entered the gates.
  2. The industry is living on the proverbial San Andreas fault – Hundreds of earthquakes occur each year in California, but only a few are felt.  These tremors occur in the industry on a daily basis, shaking it up just a bit, but not enough for everyone to notice.  Small start ups, like GeniusRocket, which use crowdsourcing to deliver ‘exceptional creative, under budget, quickly’ to buildabrand.com which reduces the branding process to an algorithm, make up these small tremors.  But like California, these ventures are only adding to the Big One that is coming.
  3. When there is no ‘right’ answer, how can you be wrong? – Agencies, as well as clients, are just as perplexed (although they were never admit to it) by the complex communications environment that they need to navigate.  Communication solutions are often broad enough to ensure something sticks, allowing small wins to be amplified and failures to be chalked up as ‘learnings.’ solution can be
  4. The ‘One Hit Wonder’ CMO – The average tenure of a CMO now less than 22 months.  Or a bit of a new record set in the last few days with a CMO-that-shall-remain-nameless, 11 months, 23 days.  So, hey, if the agency screws up, don’t worry.    You’ll have another client soon enough.
  5. We’re all taking the ‘Swimming Duck’ approach – Calm on the outside, and complete chaos beneath.  But every once in awhile, we see that feeling of chaos and almost borderline panic emerge to the point that we want to disrupt that calm and fly off.  But remember this famous hunting quote should you decide to hit the panic button – ‘If it flies, it dies.’

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