May 31, 2006

Yet Another Ad Venue

I never thought there would be ads in movie theaters. Lots of people proposed ads there, but - to me - that was something that should and would never happen.

Of course, I was wrong.

And it absolutely never occured to me that there would be ads in legitimate theaters. But, here I am, wrong again.

An tourist organization called Visit London is staging commercials in a few theaters in New York. The actors perform both in the audience and on stage.

I also notice in New York that there are billboard ads way up in the sky. That is, when you're in a tall office building - say, on the 30th or 40th floor - and you look out the window, you're very likely to see (at your eye level) an ad placed on a nearby skyscraper.

Every space is for rent!

Issue One: The Environment

More and more, I think we're going to see the issue of the environment (and natural resources) dominate communications...whether it's political dialogue, entertainment, news, or just plain marketing.

Companies that are "green" are going to have a powerful selling point, and they should certainly be smart enough to promote it aggressively. Those that are not should look for ways to change and get attention for that change.

Same for communities. I heard on the radio today that some community in South Carolina (I can't remember which one) is converting its trucks to bio diesel. Any community that takes initiatives like that is bound to benefit.

I know that it's always fashionable to knock Al Gore. But the documetary about his speech on global warming is supposed to be incredibly compelling. One critic wrote that, "I can't think of another movie in which the display of a graph elicited gasps of horror, but when the red lines showing the increasing rates of carbon-dioxide emissions and the corresponding rise in temperatures come on screen, the effect is jolting and chilling."

Smart marketers will encourage their companies to go green and promote the fact...not only for their own survival, but for the planet's.

May 23, 2006

Freedom of the Press

Our business - and our country - depends upon the press being free...able to cover stories thoroughly and accurately.

So it's concerning to hear that our government has been monitoring media telephone calls...not listening in on the calls, but tracking them. That obviously makes it very difficult for the media to protect sources, and that - in turn - may discourage some individuals from providing information to the media.

In many ways, despite our technological advances, it's increasingly difficult to find out what's going on in the world. Major news organizations are under budget pressure because of the competitive landscape...so they close bureaus or cease to cover important stories in out-of-the-way places. Our own government has put unprecedented restrictions on what can be covered in the Iraq war. And now we are faced with reporters' phone records being watched.

All of this makes last year's movie "Good Night, and Good Luck" more relevant than ever. And so is its subject matter...Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Tom Wicker has written a new book on McCarthy, tracing his career and trying to reckon with how his "phenomenon" occurred. McCarthy preached fear of Communism, and he frequently held up papers claiming they contained the names of known Communists in the State Department.

Sometimes he said there were 205 names on the list...sometimes, 57....sometimes, 81. In point of fact, he never unearthed a single Communist in the State Department.

But he scared the heck out of everyone. For example, the Voice of America dismissed 830 employees under McCarthy's threats.

McCarthy was a compulsive liar. His first opponent was 66 years old. McCarthy said the man was 73...then he said he was 89. He said that he had ten pounds of shrapnel in his leg, but the truth was that he had injured his leg falling off a ladder at a shipboard party.

How could the country get so intimidated by such a fellow as McCarthy? Wicker says that after World War II we were "bound inevitably to triumph" and that we felt that the only way we could fail was if there were subversives in high places. More importantly, he points out that in times of stress, we often turn to fear. And McCarthy "invoked the insecurity that could so easily afflict the American psyche - the dark unease."

Could that dynamic be playing out post 9/11, and could we be allowing it to cause us to look the other way at phone logs being monitored and other possible restrictions on the freedom of the press?

May 22, 2006

Me, Me, Me, Me, Me

Personalization is rampant. "My Coke." "My Way." "My This and That...etc."

Apple has sold more than 8 million video downloads since it began offering them last October.

Eight million Americans maintain their own blogs.

MySpace has more than 50 million registered users. And eBay has almost 80 million.

Murdoch's News Corp paid $580 million for MySpace. And NBC recently bought iVillage (aimed at women) for $600 million.

All of these personalized media experiences provide extraordinary advertising opportunities.

I recently read the fascinating story of Mark Zuckerberg, creator of the Facebook websites that have proliferated on college campuses throughout the country.

In 2005, Facebook was the second-fastest-growing major site on the Internet. (behind MySpace)

Facebook has about 7 1/2 million registered members.

What's distinctive about Facebook is that you can control who sees your information. That is, you can block some information from anyone other than certain friends or groups of friends. Your choice. Fascinating. And a whole new level of opportunity in the Interactive world.

What's With "The Code?"

Reviewers say "The Da Vinci Code" bites. So do friends. One friend told me it was the worst movie he ever saw. Yet, the movie had a killer first weekend. Will viewers not go, once the word of mouth spread? Or will 100 million curious readers want to see how the book translates to the screen, no matter how boring it is?

The Sony pre-opening marketing was brilliant. They hired a marketing consultant who specializes in making the connection between the Hollywood community and the Christian communty. And the Christian community isn't just the Falwells of the world. No, there are apparently a small handful of well-regarded Christian bloggers will commensurate power. And this guy knew how to reach them all with his finely tuned strategy of "engagement."

Get people talking about the film, not trying to boycott or ban it...simply discussing the issues it raises. So, he created a site called "The Da Vinci Dialogue," with essays by religious leaders and a very civilized discourse on the issues and "facts" in the book. It was a way to get people engaged and intriqued...a real "people are talking about" kind of site. And, boy, did it work!

May 15, 2006

Marketing Job Opportunities

A major non-profit I know of recently needed to find an interim president while searching for a permanent replacement for the departing president. They identified their ideal prospect, recruited him aggressively, and he agreed to take the job.

They did a great job convincing the candidate...but they never spoke to his wife.

And, even after he accepted the job, she raised so many objections that he had to turn down the offer he had already accepted.

That's a pretty substantial oversight for a major institution, and it reiterates the importance of marketing a job opportunity not only to the candidate but also to the individuals who are most important to the candidate...typically spouses, children, and sometimes parents.

My nephew was offered a job in California. His children didn't want to leave the east coast. But, when he brought them out to see his prospective employer, that company paired the kids up with same-age children of other employees...and everyone became enthusiastic about the move.

Common sense. But isn't it amazing when even major institutions overlook what is so obvious?

Another important component of recruiting employees is understanding what is most important to your current employees. Chances are that those same attributes will resonate with prospects. I was interested when we discovered (through an exercise at a company retreat) that many of our associates were attracted to Charleston because of the water. We've got 65 miles of beaches in Charleston County...but I always imagined that people viewed Charleston as an historic city, without focusing especially on its ocean-side location. I was wrong, and now we make more of a point of emphasizing Charleston being on the ocean.

May 11, 2006

"Family Table" Initiative Produces Results

Working with MTV Networks' TV Land and Nick at Night, we created a pro-social initiative called Family Table. The concept was to encourage more families to share meals together. Research shows that there are all kinds of benefits of families eating together. They include better eating habits (diet) and fewer problems with substance abuse and delinquency.

We launched the initiative a couple of years ago. It was played out in on-air spots, promotions, and extensive publicity.

It's so encouraging to see various reports that indicate our success.

For example, the Orlando Business Journal recently reported that a growing number of families - 32% of 1,000 adults surveyed nationwide - are trying to eat dinner together at home more often. That number jumps to 50% for younger households (age 28-41) and 47% for Hispanic and African-American households.

These and other encouraging reports are not necessarily the result solely of the Family Table initiative. But they remind us how powerful the media are, and how - when used to address an important public issue - they really can make a difference.

MTV Networks has been exemplary in the pro-active way in which it has identified issues and put significant resources behind addressing them. We're proud to be associated with this great company.

Online Advertising Stable and Growing

The numbers continue to be impressive. But what's especially impressive is the fact that the big advertisers are making solid commitments to online advertising. Advertisers like Proctor & Gamble, for example. And others like Ford, General Motors and Absolut Vodka are expected to spend as much as 20% of their ad budgets online this year.

Online advertising is expected to increase 24.4% this year, while all other media spending is projected to increase only 4.2%.

Within online advertising, search is the big winner. Search advertising accounts for 40% of the total online ad spending in this country. No wonder Microsoft 'bet the farm' on AdCenter, which it introduced last week.

The growth is caused not only by the fact that more advertisers are getting on board with online, but also we're seeing advances in technology that enable advertisers to measure response and results much more meaningfully. That's because online advertisers can target ads based upon location, demographics and other factors much more precisely than any other media.

It's wonderfully encouraging to see online advertising stabilize. This is now a vital medium that will become an increasingly productive part of any responsible marketing and communications program. It is essential, of course, to use it contextually with all other initiatives.

May 9, 2006

Going Overboard with Lifestyle Touchpoint Marketing

We're big fans of Lifestyle Touchpoint Marketing...communicating with people at multiple touchpoints in their lives, whether it's an ad on a pizza box or a display at the doctor's office.

But hotels.nl, an online reservations service in Holland, may have gone too far when they placed waterproof blankets (with the company's logo) on the backs of grazing sheep. The mayor of Skarsterlan, a small Dutch town, certainly thought so. He fined the company 1,000 Euros (about $1,300)/day.

Meanwhile....

A new, small European rental car company can lease cars for as low as $230/month, because the vehicles are covered with advertising and include a GPS tracking device that help provide estimates of how many eyeballs each car reaches.

Marketing the Stars

The Hollywood star system used to package and protect the stars so that their image would be precisely that which the studios sought. A great example of this system is an essay about Natalie Wood by John Gregory Dunne in the recently published book of his non-fiction writing. It's called "Regards," and it's one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time.

The Hollywood studios wanted to be sure that the off-screen image of their stars was consistent with their on-screen image. And they managed everything from what the stars said to where they went and even whom they married. They were, in fact, "protecting the brand" of each star.

That's become more challenging these days, as the studios no longer control the talent...and too many stars won't admit that their off-screen persona will most certainly affect their on-screen success. (Think Woody Allen.)

Recently, Tom Cruise's off-screen activities have garnered a lot of press, not all of it positive. Some critics speculated that it colored the way they felt about his latest movie: "Mission Impossible: III." Indeed, opening weekend grosses for the movie were much less than hoped for. Perhaps audiences agreed.

May 8, 2006

The Power of the Idea

There has been an incredible amount of coverage of the new addition to The Morgan Library and Museum in New York.

The Morgan began as the private library of financier Pierpont Morgan. His library was built between 1902 and 1906, adjacent to his New York residence at Madison Avenue and 36th Street. That building was designed by the legendary Charles McKim, of the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White.

In 1928, an Annex building was built on the corner of the block. And, in 1988, an adjacent mid-19th-century brownstone was added to the complex.

Finally, in 1991 a garden court was constructed to unite the various elements of the Library and Museum.

By the late '90's it became clear that the Morgan needed much more space. A competition was held, and three architectural firms were selected from many who applied, and those three were invited to provide more detailed proposals of how they would add space to the Morgan.

When the selection committee reviewed the proposals, they didn't feel that any of the designs hit the nail on the head. So they turned to Renzo Piano, now one of the world's busiest and most highly acclaimed architects. Piano had refused to participate in the competition for the job.

When Piano met with the committee, he did not bring any designs. He simply brought ideas.

He described those ideas...how he would create "a village" for the Morgan, how he would build down below the street level, "burying" the great treasures of the Morgan, and how he would unite the Morgan's disparate buildings.

Hearing that story, I was reminded of the way in which Frank Gehry won the competition for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Gehry's designs were little more than "chicken scratches." But his ideas were so powerful, that he - too - immediately won the assignment.

All too often, we dress up mediocre ideas. They look better. Then we dress them up some more. They look even better. But, if they're not powerful at the core...if they don't resonate when they're not all dressed up, then we're missing the mark.

Renzo Piano's solution for the Morgan is one of the most creative, elegant, envigorating spaces I've ever seen. For those who don't believe that contemporary design can effectively complement traditional buildings, you need to see this one. And, if you want to see how a powerful idea can transform not only a space but also an institution, rush to Madison Avenue at 36th Street in New York and feast your eyes.