The Fix Is In 5

(5) Integration doesn't mean you can do television AND radio.
Advertising, Public Relations, Customer Service, Operations, Interactive...
Then Media, Creative, Account Service, Account Planning, Accounting (yes, even accounting)...
Then advergaming, experiential, direct mail, newspaper, internet, tv, radio, guerrilla, search...

What the fuck are we doing?

We are so caught up in our own little spaces, our own little crevices, where it's easy to hide and pretend our jobs are to do the things we think we should be doing.  I produce websites, he places television, she writes headlines.  But those are only pieces of a goal, and if your eyes aren't squarely on that goal, the big picture, then we're all screwed.

WE WORK IN COMMUNICATIONS, PEOPLE!
Who gives a shit what is PR and what is advertising?  Does the consumer know or care whether the placement is paid or not?  Of course they don't!  What they do care about is who they trust, who they feel connections with, and the interactions in which they're treated as more important than whatever they're buying. 

The Fix:
+Throw out our dated terminology altogether. 
Redefine our jobs around the customers of our clients.  You don't write copy; you facilitate communication exchange.  She builds interaction vehicles for and with our customers. It may seem a little trivial to just throw out the words we use to describe our positions, but trust me, it plays a big role. In a t-shaped world, there are still specialties, but it raises everyone's game when anyone may be called on for anything. 

+Develop strategic guidelines and distribute them to EVERYONE, then award those who help to resolve the problem (especially when it's outside their area of expertise).
Give the goal, and tell everyone who will listen what it is.  Make it important (monetarily, or for recognition, or advancement, or whatever) to make their opinions known, no matter the subject.  If an intern or a janitor can find a better way, then let them.  Creatives don't have a monopoly on good ideas.

+Fix your money
So many companies are geared to make their money off the Super Bowl.  Get rid of it.  Get paid for the problems you solve, not how you solve them.

+Enable inter-office communication
Do whatever it takes to get people talking, and not just in their own clicks, but outside of their natural circles.  Force them to engage with people they may not have without a little encouragement.

Yes, I saved the best for last:

+START FROM THE CUSTOMER AND WORK YOUR WAY BACKWARD.
The quickest way to disassemble the current bullshit is to reach your customers where and how they are open to being reached, not where and how it's easiest for you to shout at them.  Find where they are, how they talk, how they get their entertainment and information, and find ways to enhance those experiences.  This, above all else, will keep you on the righteous path of media agnosticism.

photo from ScribeSevenThree via flickr.

You're Probably Too Poor To Know What Google Is.

"We don't advertise on the internet because our customers are not internet users."

Doesn't that statement seem utterly ridiculous?  It should, but there are STILL companies out there saying that very thing, as if their customers somehow escaped the 75% of the nation that are now internet-connected.  But that's not really my point.

The point is that it's a missed opportunity, not at reaching a mass of consumers, but talking to a few of them.

So, maybe you're not selling IPods, and you might be right that your particular product skews a little poorer, or a little older, or a little less of the traditional mindset of the internet user, but you just missed a chance to open a dialogue with those that are, and may have the biggest influence over your audience, anyway.

The net isn't about getting the most ears and eyes, so who really gives a shit if ALL your customers aren't there.  ALL your customers aren't anywhere  Accept it.  But if you're company has fans, and let's hope it does, give them an avenue to get to know you better.  It's a terrible oversight to not talk when you have customers ready to have a conversation with you.

The Fix is In 4

The ad doctor is in again, laying down a little hee-haw for the fourth time. See the rest of the series by clicking on one, two, or three.

(4) Inbred thinking
The worse half of learning.  It's assimilation of thought, not growth of imagination.  It's not seeking a give it take, not a mutually-beneficial relationship.  Here, one mindset gets passed, without adapting to a new environment.

We’ve all seen it a hundred times.  Someone gets older instead of gets better.  They get comfortable in their ideas. They love them, so they don’t ever change, and they pass along the same dogma to someone in an inferior position. 

The Fix:
Expect growth, in both yourself, and those around you. The only way to avoid cyclical thinking is to constantly avoid making the easy choice, and to create an environment where learning is king above all. And, not just learning of one thing, but a quest for knowledge of everything you can know.

It means relying on others around you to bring in their ideas, and making it easy for them to share and accomplish. In our business, we have to know that we don’t always have the answers. The quickest way to ensure continued success is to surround yourself with good people, and allow them to flourish.

photo from twm on flickr.

Do you live in a glass tower?

Well, Hot Damn, Hee-Haw, Three youtube posts in a row?!?!

Well, I've got no choice, after seeing this kickass video created by Peter Hirshberg of Technorati, and Michel Markman.  It's a sort-of War of the Worlds take on audience empowerment.

Money quote:

"With blind confidence, we considered them our own, our audience, our subscribers, our cuddly couch potatoes.  With infinite complacency, we blithely segmented and sold them to advertisers.  We learned to shape their habits, mold their desires and give them the illusion of infinite choice.  Yet, from their side of the screen, with envious eyes, they studied us,  And bit by bit, they learned, and linked, and drew their plans against us, wielding weapons we, ourselves, provided."

Just brilliant.  Thanks to Chris Anderson for posting this today.

Bravo, Bravia

Sony, by producing something so captivating as the Bravia Balls, actually drew people closer to them.  A troubled company was given a face people could love.  It's the beauty of making an ad so simple and emotive.  For a few seconds, it was easy to separate Bravia from the company we hated for loading spyware on our computers without telling us. 

And, now, they're out to do it again.  They've created a blog to release information on the eagerly awaited second installment, and to be honest with you, I can't friggin' wait.  If you thought throwing a half million rubber balls down the streets of San Francisco sounded stupid, wait until you hear about exploding a shitload of paint and fireworks over a building in Scotland. 

I really love the fact that they've created buzz like this around an ad that hasn't even been created. I feel like I'm waiting for the next Scorsese film. 

It's also indicative of that fact that in the days of the DVR outcry from traditional addies, that people aren't turned off just by advertising, they're turned off by lazy, formulaic, crap advertising.  Make your messages unforgettable, no matter the platform.

Here's a video shot by someone who showed up to watch the filming:

The Fix is In

The fire is raging in our industry. Advertising agencies have turned from respected grandfathers to shifty teenagers, searching for their place, but remaining head-strong, regardless of consequence. 

The first step to upheaval, then rejuvenation, is finding those things that are most detrimental, and then using that opportunity to improve ourselves. Over the next few days, I'll talk about a few afflictions that plague our industry, and how to fix them.

(1) Lack of Conversation
We simply aren't connected enough.  We are not the connoisseurs of people and culture we like to pretend to be.  We barely listen, and more often that not, become more caught up in our own dogma than our responsibility to the consumer. We work harder to preserve our way of life, rather than understanding what the consumer values most.

The Fix:
Believe me, actually listening to, and more importantly, adapting to consumer wants is something we, as an industry, are worst at implementing. 

We change this by becoming a part of their communities, reading what they write and hearing what they say, and interacting and engaging with them.  That means talking, not only to your fans, but your enemies, and everyone in between.  It's about using our ability and resources to recognize what can make our clients greater, and their customers greatest.

photo from wild wood gallery via flickr.

CBS Gets Egg on Their Face

As has been widely reported, CBS has plans to launch what their copywriters have dubbed "egg-vertising."  My head is throbbing just thinking about it.

At first glance, CBS gets a subtle plus or two.  They're doing a couple things every marketer should.  (1) They've gone to a place where people are, but advertisers are not.  (2) They did something that got people talking, and got them a ton of free PR.

I'll leave the congratulations at that point. The president of CBS marketing was most pleased with the promotion's inability to be avoided.

Newspapers, magazines and Web sites are so crowded with ads for entertainment programming that CBS was ready to try something different, Mr. Schweitzer said. The best thing about the egg concept was its intrusiveness.

Empty space does not equal an open invitation to advertisers.  This is a sign of (a) irresponsibility with consumers' time (b) traditional-marketer reasoning run amok in a non-traditional space.  It is unabashed disrespect for the consumer.  Really, who the hell wants advertising on the food they eat?  Next, will they brand my steak with an A1 logo?

A few posts ago, I posed a decision we have to make as marketers.  Desperation or Revolution?

This is clearly DESPERATION.

Adfreak
AdJab
Chroma

The Ego Experience

Please realize that the experience I have with your website is mine and mine alone.  I don't need you to define it for me.

The physical websites you build are only part of my total experience.  It also has as much to do with where I am, who I'm with, what I'm doing, what time it is, and on and on.  You can't possibly know all these answers, so what you should offer me is the experience that I need at that time, at that place.

And here's what that means to you.  No more blaring music through my speakers without asking.  Sometimes I'm at work, and that catchy tune you thought was so cool just rats me out to my boss. 

I don't want to fight through some gaudy flash intro if all I want to do is find some directions. Especially if you're primarily a brick and mortar, why would you ever make me wait to find out your address and phone number?  You should be removing any possible obstacle from me getting to you.

The web experience you build is not for you.  You don't own the time I spend on your site.  Your job is to make it as easy as possible for me to get exactly what I need, when I need it.  If you want to add fluff, fine, sometimes I like fluff, but give me the option, don't shove your fluff down my throat.

So, here it is:
NO MORE STARTING SOUND WITHOUT ASKING FIRST.
NO MORE FLASH INTRO, WHEN ALL I WANT IS CONTENT.
NO MORE BARRIERS FOR ME TO FIND WHAT I WANT.

USER EXPERIENCE DOES NOT MEAN MY EXPERIENCE IS YOURS TO USE.

If you can't follow those simple rules, rest assured, there is always someone who will.  You don't have to waste much of my time before I'm done with you altogether.

The Art of Timelessness

Why is Seinfeld still so funny, when Dharma and Greg seems like a blast from the past?   Why can I watch Tommy Boy 30 times in a row without getting bored, but Black Sheep was funny once, back in the 90's?

The answer is in timelessness.  It doesn't necessarily mean one thing is good and another thing is bad, it just means one thing lives on, and often grows stronger with time, while the other might be good once, but simply gets tiresome or loses its cool.

If you're out to make something timeless, there probably is no set rules you can follow, and luck probably plays as much of a part as any, but here are my thoughts for getting started.

1.  Tap into the Human Condition.  Feelings, irony, and life milestones aren't necessarily products of the language of the day.  They are unifying characteristics that run through any community, country, gender, race, whatever.  Talk about things that helps us to identify commonality.

2.  Be Relatable.  Allow people to derive meaning in their own lives from the stories you tell.

3.  Don't Go Out of Your Way to be Cool.  Just be yourself.  The cool thing continually changes, usually faster than you'd like.  It's really more about attitude than the clothes you wear, anyway.

4.  Be Consistent. And consistently great.  If you allow one portion of your image to not live up to the expectations created in others, you're dead already.  And you can't be timeless and dead.  Not literally, anyway.

5.  Take Risks.  Nothing bland, and nothing that looked, sounded like, or felt just like everything else will be memorable.  And you can't be timeless if you're not memorable.  But,...

6.  Be Familiar.  Do things that feel familiar, things that make someone feel comfortable and draw them in.  Then surprise them by doing something they didn't expect.  Be remarkable.

7.  Be Conversational.  And I mean this in two ways, be conversational in your tone of voice, your gestures, your appearance, and be conversational by telling stories that allow other people to be conversational, too.  Tell stories that are easy to tell.

8.  Be Something to Somebody.  This is about as cliched as it comes, but true.  If we try to be too many things, we'll just become dull. If we can be something special to just one person, it's that much easier for that person to spread our story to other people who are of like mind.

9.  Ignore the Rules.  Rules change with time.  Disregard them because following them will date you.

10.  Don't Be a Slave to Technology.  Use it, but don't abuse it.  Technology can distract, and be a barrier to entry.  Only use technology that adds tangible value to those with whom you're talking.

Chris Anderson's "The Long Tail"

Chris Anderson, editor of Wired Magazine, has a new book, "The Long Tail," in which he discusses, you guessed it, the long tail.  He masterfully describes in great detail the mechanisms at work, changing our consumption habits, and further segmenting us, not by geography, age or skin color, but by our common interests.  Chris says:

"Instead of the office watercooler, which crosses cultural boundaries as only the random assortment of personalities found in the workplace can, we're increasingly forming our own tribes, groups bound together more by affinity and shared interests than by default broadcast schedules.  These days our watercoolers are increasingly virtual-there are many different ones, and the people who gather around them are self-selected.  We are turning from a mass market back into a niche nation, defined now not by our geography but by our interest."

The long tail is essentially the relationship between the hits, and everything else.  Hits have the biggest sales, and everything else, much smaller.  The top 100 hits individually might far outsell the rest, but the increasingly abundant tail provides a huge profit center when sales are combined.

This is shown in the graph below

But now, we're seeing a shift from the top 100 (the head) and more power and profits to the tail (everything else).  Although, Chris shows off some technical chops in the book, I'll leave it to you to read the book for further explanation.

The real power in this book is more from a cultural standpoint, rather than a purely economic one.  As we see companies like Netflix, Amazon, Itunes, etc. extend the tail further and further, the hits get less impactful.  As the tail gets longer, the tools of production get less expensive, and the filters that help us search the tail get better, we can see this shift happening.

It's happening on our television sets, our computers, our supermarkets, and our theaters.  As the Internet grows, it allows us to have, as Chris says "the Paradise of Choice" and the means by which to find the things that interest us most, no matter the producer.  It's an increasingly decentralized version of the media power structure that's falling apart today.  As Chris puts it:

"Every time a new technology enables more choice, whether it's the VCR or the Internet, consumers clamor for it.  Choice is simply what we want and, apparently, what we've always wanted."

This is a must read for anyone proclaiming the successes of new media, and both technically and rhetorically brings to light how we have been and will be affected by our new digital landscape, and the explosion of the niche,

Now, if you have an interest in the book, I will very web2.0ishly be offering to pass it right along down the line.   The first one to post a comment or send me an email gets the book, and I'll have it shipped out to you on Wednesday.

Any takers?

Buy the Book.