Hasta La Creative!

Have you ever diligently searched for some information, or at least several sources, and come up empty handed? Happens to me all the time…I’ll get a “great” idea and try to substantiate it, only to find that there is no accessible data. It is frustrating and a bit degrading. Recently, I wanted some hard numbers on the state of the Ad Industry, and wasn’t coming up with much besides geusstimates and hype: I wanted data on damage done to date; total layoffs, shops that closed, account spending cuts, etc.

Enter AdWeek. Usually a good source; not one that I would consider as a supplier of inane (lacking sense, significance, void) information. AdWeek usually does a decent job covering the industry, and when I saw a piece done by Mark Dolliver, “How Will Downturn Impact Advertising?” I almost peed in my pants. Finally! I excitedly dug in, expecting some hard-hitting insights from a professional publication and journalist that would leave me much better for reading it.

Wrong! Basically, the article is an opinion-based couple of paragraphs derived from a survey completed by approximately 4500 LinkedIn users. The headline is catchy, and Mr. Dolliver’s hook is that “If the Recession doesn’t kill advertising, it could make it stronger.” There were no answers, just opinion. No data, just speculation. No scientific study…just a poll that is sketchy with vague answer choices …one being, “Less Advertising.”

What in the hell does “less advertising” mean? Less revenue? Physically fewer ads? With spot costs declining, couldn’t we have more advertising? If we’re basing “less” on volume, the rapid unraveling of the print industry would definitely mean “less advertising.”

Stay tuned…as soon as the hard facts come in, I’ll get back to you.

Jeff Louis is a Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing.
He’d love to hear from you: www.linkedin.com/in/jefflouis or on twitter @jlo0312.

Most of us just happily blog-along, with no worries, really. We try to do our best, tell the truth, and use correct punctuation. We don’t try to misquote, and do work to give credit where credit is due. These practices, however, will most likely be changing in the near future as the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) looks at plans to regulate viral marketing and blogs.

As part of its review of its advertising guidelines, the FTC is proposing that word-of-mouth marketers and bloggers, as well as people on social-media sites such as Facebook, be held liable for any false statements they make about a product they’re promoting, along with the product’s marketer. This could present a significant issue for marketers, including the likes of Microsoft, Ford, and Pepsi, who spend billions on word-of-mouth and social media. PQ Media projects that marketers will spend $3.7 billion on word-of-mouth marketing in 2011.

Luckily, this monitoring will only apply to those who blog and are compensated for reviewing and promoting products. That would NOT be me. (So, if you have any questions regarding my policy, please send me an email…I’ll get some good juice going for your business…shh!) The best example currently is Ford’s Fiesta plan, where the automaker is giving 100 automobiles to influential bloggers for a six-month review.

The current FTC guidelines in the “Advertising-Practices” divisions are over 30 years old, and even prolific viral advertisers, such as Pepsi, agree that some sort of monitoring is necessary. One of the other items concerning the FTC are TV spots that make grandiose promises for making money or losing weight, and then scroll the words, “Results not typical, Individual Results May Vary” across the bottom of the screen in tiny 7pt type.

Everyone that uses the Internet is minimally aware of various scams and fraudulent business practices that thrive online, so it is surprising that the latest FTC move is coming relatively late. It is not policy yet, though. The FTC will vote this summer, taking the 4A’s and PCPC (Personal Care Products Council) comments into consideration.

Once they do get rules implemented, I have a couple sites I want them to look at that are hawking software bots that can break in to profiles on MySpace and Facebook. (Like this one…)

Jeff Louis is an professional Senior Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you: www.linkedin/in/jefflouis or on twitter @jlo0312.

Mexico, offended by this Burger King Whopper spot (click on Read More), cites that the world community is given “a bad impression” of the country. The spot, which ran in Spain and Europe, has been pulled by Burger King Corporation, who obviously didn’t get it “Their Way.” Mexico believes the spot portrays Americans as superior to Mexicans, and took exception to, “The taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican,”

The newspaper La Jornada ran a front-page story under the headline “Denigrating advertising,” and said the ads “show Mexicans as notably inferior to all Americans.”

But an editorial cartoon in another Mexican newspaper, Reforma, showed a short Mexican dressed in a wrestler’s mask holding a hamburger, with the caption “The only thing more insulting than deceptive ads are the ones that expose the truth.” Both professional wrestling and fast food are popular in Mexico.

Mexico, to no one’s surprise, has much to worry about these days. The Mexican government risks collapse at any moment, the country is flat broke, and her people are leaving in record numbers. Not to mention that there were 5612 murders in 2008 resutling from a violent drug war. The drugs in question are being shipped the United States, causing the Obama administration to pledge $700 Million to help Mexico fight the drug cartels.

So, it’s a good thing Mexico’s watching out for their REP; otherwise, we might get the wrong impression…

Jeff Louis is an professional Senior Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you: www.linkedin/in/jefflouis or on twitter @jlo0312.

Kentucky Fried Chicken has been known to come up with the craziest concept dishes and apparently there is a new one coming out. KFC announced a second secret recipe added to its menu – the Kentucky Grilled Chicken (KGC). The announcement made today, at New York City’s famed Friars Club marks the launch of this revolutionary new non-fried menu item, which is available in KFC stores nationwide beginning today.

KFC’s Kentucky Grilled Chicken is packed with flavor. It’s marinated and seasoned with a savory blend of six secret herbs and spices and slow-grilled to juicy perfection. The cooking process includes a blend of spices that is proprietary to KFC and utilizes custom-designed, patented ovens, making it KFC’s second secret recipe.

With between 70 to 180 calories and four to nine grams of fat depending on the piece, Kentucky Grilled Chicken provides a non-fried option from a brand America knows and loves.

(Source) Press

Kimberly Clark has unveiled a new super premium diaper under its Huggies brand that includes natural, organic materials and ingredients to provide gentle protection for new babies, as well as initial steps toward environmental improvements, without sacrificing performance.

The new Huggies Pure & Natural diaper is hypoallergenic, latex and fragrance free and features a breathable outer cover that includes organic cotton. The liner includes natural Aloe & Vitamin E and materials from renewable sources, and the product’s outer packaging is sourced from 20 percent post-consumer recycled materials. The new diaper will be offered in 6 sizes, from newborn through size 5.

K-C expects the Huggies Pure & Natural diapers will help the brand build inroads with those moms who are most interested in products that include natural materials to provide the best care for their babies. According to a K-C consumer research study, the moms surveyed expressed a strong interest in purchasing Huggies brand diapers that included organic and natural materials.

Huggies Pure & Natural diapers will be widely available in North American retail outlets later in April.

(Source) Press

With a proven brand marketing tactic bringing in the bacon, Church’s Chicken has placed a positive outlook for its brand. The latest tactic is their 99-cent value menu offering launched in January during a period typically slow for most restaurants in the quick-serve industry, the new value menu offers eight items for under a dollar. The success of the value menu especially during a down economy only re-enforces the effectiveness of their multi-layered marketing approach to drive value while staying true to the brand’s core essence of authenticity and time-tested great products offered at a value.

Church’s Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Farnaz Wallace said, “The introduction of the value menu gives customers an affordable option in stretching their dollar while satisfying their taste. The new value menu is just one more way to stay true to Church’s no-frills positioning. It underscores Church’s price-value position of providing good, authentic juicy marinated fried chicken – the menu serves comfort foods without premium costs.”

As a key ingredient to the brand’s marketing strategy and success, the value menu was developed to drive traffic while sustaining the brand’s positive same-store sales. Church’s domestic system experienced a growth of 3.4% and a rise of customer transactions of 6.3% during the month of January. The brand also averaged an 8.3% sales mix and continued to maintain over 6% sales mix during a 10-week time span.

By offering a variety of flexible and affordable menu options for customers, Church’s has maintained a sales growth momentum of 2.6% year-to-date. “The move to an even lower price point of these selected items only re-enforce our brand’s commitment of value during these tough economic times,” Wallace added.

(Source) Press

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation will be launching a new campaign to promote its HIV prevention campaign. This time it shall be Blair Underwood who will be starring in the campaign which can be seen on billboards throughout Los Angeles.

The campaign continues AHF’s “Stay Negative” HIV prevention and testing campaign which began earlier this year with advertising materials that featured an eye-catching image of a semi-nude male with the words “Stay Negative” tattooed on his back. Like the previous “tattooed man” ad, the Underwood “Man Up” campaign includes billboards, an online presence which, in addition to its own website, includes banner advertisements on KIIS, HOT, MYFM radio station websites.

The attention-grabbing image of Underwood and his direct message to viewers is already having an impact. The billboards and an increase in traffic to the www.freeHIVtest.net website have coincided with a dramatic increase in capacity and testing through the AHF Public Health Division.

(Source) Press

Here is something worth watching from MillerCoors and RecycleBank. Just in time for Earth Day, MillerCoors and RecycleBank have partnered to relaunch “The Cycle,” an animated video that helps answer the important question of what happens to recyclables after they are collected. “The Cycle” won the “Best Educational Resource” award at this year’s South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas.

RecycleBank is a recycling rewards program currently servicing households across 18 states. To date, RecycleBank has helped to divert more than 141,000 tons of recyclables from landfills and households have cumulatively saved more than 1.4 million trees and more than 95 million gallons of oil through their recycling efforts.

The Cycle takes viewers through each step of the recycling cycle, from recycling collection to processing to manufacturing new products from recycled material. With the goal of sharing the knowledge about recycling and helping people understand their eco-footprint, the video can be downloaded in three formats and is meant to be shared.

(Source) Press

 Never underestimate the power of a star. Not the ones high in the sky, but the other ones, dimmer, out at night in Hollywood. It’s been long-rumored that company’s with “celebrity spokespeople” are so yesterday, but they still keep on popping up, getting endorsements then smokin’ dope and losing endorsements. I guess we need someone to look up to…Madison Avenue says so. But, stars are important to products, to companys, and even to people. Stars can make us money, or totally ignore us. I asked for Lindsay Lohan to be my friend on Twitter. No reply. (bitch)
Enter Mario Armando Lavandeira, a man with stars in his eyes, as well. He’s someone that we love to hate, or hate to love. He lives a life of relative ease in Los Angeles, hanging out with Hollywood’s famous, or infamous, celebrities. He had a show on VH1 for a while, has been featured in the NYTimes at least twice, and has appeared on the Kathy Griffin Show, Nightline, The View, MTV, and others.

If you hadn’t already guessed, our secretive Mario has an alter-ego that he got on the steets: Perez Hilton. Perez Hilton, the self-proclaimed “Queen of all Media,” just celebrated his birthday on March 30th with some of his fave stars: Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga, Tara Reid, Salman Rushdie (what is he doing there?), Kim Kardashian, The Jonas Brothers, and of course, Paris Hilton. I know this because I visited his website. I’m not sure why I was there….but as I leisurely scrolled through the gallery of  star-studded birthday snaps, playing “Guess the Star ” with myself (I went 4/82), all hell broke loose. At the bottom of the gallery, glowing as it gloated at me, was the number of unique visitors  received in 9 days: 11,000,000 (EE-Lev-Un-Mil-Yun.) I rubbed my eyes. Squinted. It didn’t change. Chagrined, my first thought was: “The friggin losers visiting this site have NOTHING to do (which I proved…).”  The second thought burned my brain with a tinge of jealous awe: “Perez Hilton is a genius!”

In case you’re “not in the know,” Perezhilton.com is the online version of supermarket tabloids, but way-nastier. Perez berates the stars he seems to idolize, “outs” suspected homosexuals, refers to stars as “bitches” (and worse), and doodles degrading images on top of celebrity photos. Love him, hate him, or despise him, he does deserve some credit: The man has spent four years of his life blogging. For a living. Very successfully. This may be the greatest Social Media victory ever, not to mention that Perez is nearing “phenom stage.”

Just a guy that writes about other people-other  famous people- and is said to make some decent bank doing it… in the high six-figures for his “effort.” Perez won’t say how much he makes (How Rude!), but unconfirmed sources that sued him stated his take-home in 2007 was over $800,000. Not a surprising figure when his advertising revenue is reported to be $45,000 per day! Yep, just a guy and his blog, blogging away, blog, blog, blog. Bloggity-blog-blog, blaga blog blog, all day long, about rich people.  %*$& my life.

Maybe, like me, you think he’s a genius. But, he’s not. He’s a failed actor and former receptionist that was fired from his publicist job at the Star. He started blogging because ”it looked easy.” Okay, I will add lazy to his attributes. On a nicer note, his story does inspire “wannabe writers,” like me; while I am bustin’ ass to get a Google link on my blog, he has the likes of  MTV, Kentucky Fried Chicken, “Twilight,” famous musicians, chic LA boutiques, Walden University, weight loss products, and a host of others gracing his pages. Daily.
Some facts about Perezhilton.com:

• The site’s demographic is mainly female,
• Average age is 26 
• comScore rates the site among the Top 10 Entertainment sites 
• Monthly unique visitors, U.S.: 1.3 million
• Global (he’s global?) unique visitors: 2.4 million

With a thriving blog that’s generating bucks, buzz, and press, what’s next for this astute entrepreneur?

Believe it or not, he’s “hard at work” extending the Perez Hilton brand. It’s rumored that he doesn’t write anymore–it took too much time. Others dish dirt for him now. It has, afterall, been four years of work. This new found freedom from writing gives him time to drop in on morning talk shows and comment on the latest starlet, run amok. Plus, there’s always Empire Perez to fret about. As we went to press this morning, the empire included a YouTube channel dedicated to Perez Hilton, and a line of clothing dedicated to Perez Hilton. Seriously, though, perpetuation is on his mind, because the one lesson he’s learned dissin’ the elite for four years, it’s that fame is fleeting. Today’s darling is tomorrow’s Jenny Craig spokesperson.

**No Stars Were Hurt During The Research and Writing Of  This Report.**

 Jeff Louis is a Strategic Media Planner & Buyer with over seven years of B2B & B2C experience. His interests are emerging media, schweet  ideas, and redefining the status quo (not necessarily in that order.)  He’s passionate about writing and digs great creative executions based on strategy.  Follow him on twitter @jlo0312, or LinkedIn, www.LinkedIn.com/in/jefflouis

Honda is a familiar brand and a popular vehicle but the thing is, do you know its value and see if it matches your needs? Honda has proven to be a reliable brand through the years and the deal can only get sweeter as Honda embarks on a program aimed to ensure that customers only get the best option for their vehicular needs.

To provide consumers the necessary information to make the smartest decision when purchasing a vehicle, Honda is teaming up with Edmunds.com, the No. 1 auto-shopping site on the Web, to deliver “True Cost to Own a Honda” data to consumers.

The multiplatform campaign strategy developed by RPA, Honda’s longstanding agency of record, encourages consumers to compare Honda models to the most cross-shopped competition while calculating the long-term costs of vehicle ownership versus the price tag of a vehicle. The campaign features TV, online and radio.

“The voice of this campaign is honest and approachable. The goal is to get the attention of auto shoppers while differentiating the communication from competitors promoting a strong discount message,” said Gregory J. Smith, SVP, account director at RPA. “The TV ads include a clear call-to-action for consumers to check out the ‘True Cost to Own a Honda’ comparisons at Edmunds.com and are then tagged with compelling incentives.”

(Source) Press