Sun Tzu, So You Don’t Have To

This new article in our Emerging Voices Series is made possible by the generous support of Adpulp’s patrons on Patreon. Please join us.   LONDON—When we think of The Art of War we think of a dusty, old, impregnable tome pored over by tweed-clad old men in dusty drawing rooms. Maybe it’s an accurate stereotype, […]

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To Survive the Adpocalypse, Run All the Scenarios and Act with Humility

People who make advertising their profession are often optimistic and idealistic. I think this is a great way to be, as long as it doesn’t cloud your vision. There is a time for optimism and a time for realistic assessments of reality. And pandemic or no, clouded thinking mixed with delusions of grandeur are bad […]

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Media Expert, Simon Peel, Helps Get Adidas on the Right Page

Why do you continue to go to marketing conferences? Are they worth the cost, the travel hassles, and the time away from the office? For people interested in marketing effectiveness, the answer last week was yes. Marketing Week, Campaign, and Footwear News are all carrying the story of how Adidas overinvested in digital marketing and […]

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Find A Great Writer Or Team of Writers To Move Your Audience

Writers needs champions like Andy Greenway, executive creative director at Dentsu Singapore. He’s a person who believes deeply in the power of writing to change the course of a business and the world for the better. “Great writing is the foundation of progress,” he posits. Greenway also argues that, “A great creative agency is built […]

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Inside the Chief Marketer’s Mind: Ann Mukherjee

Ann Mukherjee is chief global commercial officer at SC Johnson. Formerly, she was President, Pepsico Global Snacks and Chief Marketing Officer, Frito-Lay North America. She’s a fast-talking client who understands what it takes to build brands. This is a quick, insightful video. Let’s hear what she has to say. Like many accomplished people Mukherjee speaks her […]

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Advertising Is A Critical Spoke On the Marketing Communications Wheel

Advertising lives at the top of the customer experience funnel. Thus, it’s important to make and run great advertising. It’s equally important to realize that no matter how high quality the ads, and how spot-on the messaging is, advertising is only one of several important parts of the customer’s experience journey. Smart brand managers use […]

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Make Sure Your Brand’s Audio Is In Tune

Do you recognize these sounds? Which brands do they represent? All of these brands carry a distinctive sound. Apple’s power up sound; it’s simple and elegant just like the brand. I can almost imagine Steve Jobs chanting this on one his meditative retreats. NBC’s three-note tag is a mnemonic. It helps you remember the brand […]

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Add Primary Research To Your Pitch; Win the Pitch

Did you know that 70 percent of marketers expect primary research when receiving new agency pitches? In related news, 89 percent of agency pros that win new business pitches more than half the time use primary research when developing their pitch. The stats above available in a new report from Vennli, which wants to help […]

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Ad Making Is Not Manufacturing, It’s A Discovery Process

Martin Weigel has been Head of Planning at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam since 2009. He has some strong ideas to share about the business. Like this one: When we succumb to the fantasy that we can professionalise creativity, that we can extract the play, unpredictability, and human element out of the process, that it can be treated […]

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Rova’s Joe Olsen Turned His Agency Into A SaaS Provider for Agencies

A decade ago many “digital agencies” were primarily production shops sub-contracting out to the big agencies in big cities. It was a profitable business for several years, but many clients were not fully satisfied. Something was missing. According to Joe Olsen, CEO of Rova, that something was the strategy that would wed digital production to […]

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Ad Contrarians Enter The Podcast Booth; Break Down The Business In 10

If you work in marketing and you need to sharpen your cognitive skills, this new podcast is for you: The Ad Contrarian Show. Bob Hoffman (the Ad Contrarian) and Sharon Krinsky (the former president and chief creative officer of Hoffman/Lewis) are speaking into the mic. Depending on how entrenched your POV is about “the business,” […]

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Trump’s “First Family” Look Is An Image That’s Hard To Beat

There are new and variable factors to the election this year, which makes it maddening and interesting at the same time. Without wanting to forward anyone’s political agenda, as advertising professionals, we do want to offer what insight we can about the use of advertising to win elections. Much has been made of Donald Trump’s […]

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Tame Your Lion And Pencil Worshipers, Effectiveness Is The New Black

Business results. ROI. Clients love it; ergo, agencies must provide it to remain essential. Enter the Warc 100, an annual ranking of the world’s 100 best campaigns and companies, based on their performance in effectiveness and strategy competitions. The rankings are compiled based on the winners of 87 effectiveness and strategy awards from around the […]

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Clear A Digital Pathway To Engagement, Brand Preference and Customer Loyalty

Scott Lindenbaum is VP, Director of Digital Planning for Deutsch NY. No doubt, Lindenbaum has a sweet position at the agency, but the title fails to suit him. He wants to be called Engagement Strategy Director.

Given the planner’s understanding of Marshall McLuhan’s thinking on hot and cool media, Lindenbaum likely deserves said title change.

In the 1960s, Philosopher Marshall McLuhan famously wrote about hot and cool media, each of which invite different degrees of participation on the part of the media consumer.

Hot media is extremely immersive and comprehensive media. Think of an HD movie with surround sound. As it is traditionally understood, hot media leaves little room for viewer participation and little viewer effort needs to be made to have a complete and satisfying media experience. McLuhan might say that when we watch The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX, there is no room for active engagement because the media itself is so rich, so hot.

Lindenbaum goes on to conclude that our instant digital access to information turns all media today into cool media. With mobile computers in our pockets always at the ready, he reasons that we now routinely demand to participate. We also demand to be heard. And most interesting of all, we demand to know more.

A desire to know more and to participate in the narrative is part of the charm and success of HBO’s new series, True Detective. In order to know more, fans of True Detective snatched up Robert W Chambers’ The King in Yellow, a book first published in 1895. The book shot up Amazon’s bestseller list as fans consulted the text to help solve the mystery (in unison with the show’s development) of a serial killer operating in Louisiana.

No one at HBO led viewers to an old text. The detectives references to a “Yellow King” led viewers to wonder and then to seek out more information that the show itself was willing or ready to provide. Talented writers know that what does not appear on the page is often as crucial as the copy that does. Writers leave gaps in their stories to help people imagine. Force readers to examine every word, every detail in every scene and every piece of dialogue on the set, and you’ve taxed the audience and possibly driven all but the most faithful away.

To engage means to involve and involvement comes in various shapes and sizes. Reading text and watching video is one form of involvement, while responding to a work with your own work is another deeper form of involvement. In my opinion, brands want it all—light, medium and heavy engagement along with millions of impressions.

For fun, let’s explore another side of this topic. My friend Bob Hoffman provides the contrarian’s view of engagement.

Engagement is a very imprecise and confusing term. Nobody can agree on what engagement means, how to measure it, or what value it has.

So it’s the perfect flavor of online unaccountability. Just like we disguise our traditional advertising failures behind branding (“it’s not supposed to sell, it’s a branding ad”) we now hide our online failures behind “engagement (“clicks mean nothing.”)

A monkey can be trained to click. And hey, if clicks pay the bills for bootstrapped media companies and well-heeled ad agencies alike, wheel in the bananas. While everyone is enjoying their free info snacks, brand builders and direct marketers alike can court a few more clicks (and deeper engagement) on the well worn avenues to brand recall and brand preference.

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The Scoundrel’s Dilemma: When and How to Evoke Patriotism in Advertising

The great English writer Samuel Johnson once declared that, “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.” Johnson’s beef wasn’t with patriotism per se, rather the issue of it being coopted for the purposes self-interest. In the preceding several hundred years since he uttered the phrase, proof of Johnson’s quote is still readily seen in many pockets of society. Politicians often appropriate the love of country for a broad range of purposes; from securing smooth passage of legislation, to xenophobic fear mongering. To wit, patriotism often rears its head when any standalone merit is hard to find.

The American car industry has a complicated history with patriotism. Since Detroit industry workers smashing Toyotas in the 70s, the call to buy American over imported cars has been strong.

But this is 2014. The problem with American manufacturers evoking the nebulous notion of patriotism is that not only are a slew of affordable imported alternatives available, consumers have never been better informed. Aside from buying a house, a new car is likely the biggest purchase a consumer will ever make. Can (or should) a car buyer suspend rationality for the love of country? The idea of this is worth examining in light of a couple a couple of TV spots from American carmakers, Wieden + Kennedy’s GlobalHue’s Super Bowl spot for Chrysler, and Rogue’s recent spot for Cadillac.

Chrysler’s spot features America’s most revered living icon, Bob Dylan, expounding on the attributes of other nations against the backdrop of gorgeously shot Americana. The spot finishes with a call to action, “Let Germany brew your beer. Let Switzerland build your watch. Let Asia assemble your phone. But WE will build your car.” Dylan assures us that other countries are adept at plenty of other worthwhile endeavors, but cars are central to the American story. To buy a car from another country is treasonous.

The Cadillac spot is more polarizing. A love letter to unfettered self-reliance, the spot seems to know which way its bread is buttered. Unlike the Chrysler spot, it doesn’t acknowledge but rather demonizes the attitudes of other nations, even taking the well-worn path of French bashing, finishing with the phrase, “N’est-ce pas?” While the YouTube commenters formed two camps, one of the, “How insensitive, egocentric, and repulsive.” The other, “Hey butthurt foreigners in the comments: instead of crying, take notes. This is why our country is the greatest in the world and yours isn’t,” the spot reinforces what American buyers of this car will love the most about themselves.

Both spots evoke patriotism, but the Cadillac spot stays strictly in the visceral, emotional space, whereas Dylan’s Chrysler spot ends with a plea of rationality – it’s ok to buy foreign goods, just not cars.

The problem with this message is that is is patently untrue. By many independent (indeed, American) perspectives, Chryslers are a pretty middling choice. The jury is back in — Edmunds, Cars.com, Consumer Reports, and plenty of others suggest that all things considered, Chryslers aren’t a great buy. Chrysler is essentially asking us to sacrifice our decision-making rigor on the altar of patriotism. That’s a pretty big ask boys.

But by embracing only the emotional hot buttons and appealing to what makes them unique, Cadillac’s spot lovingly depicts those with the wallet and the will to buy the ELR. While controversial, this spot is much more relevant and appealing to the sensibilities of the self-made.

Jimmy Darmody from Boardwalk Empire cautions, “You can’t be half a gangster.” American carmakers would do well to take note. Evoking irrational yet powerful emotions can’t be tempered by a call to rationality. IF a brand feels compelled to evoke love of country (and it’s a big IF), then it needs to go hard or go home.

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Understanding Online Behavior Is The Screw That Tightens SMM Strategies

What business goals can social media help your company achieve?

Brand exposure and increased engagement are workable goals. But what about customer service? Is this opportunity woven into your social marketing strategy?

Mike Proulx, senior vice president and director of social media at Hill Holliday, says, “Far beyond a clever tweet, people want great products and service, and they want to feel heard.”

I agree. But do we have any data on this? Decision makers need data!

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Forrester’s Nate Elliott, for one, is lending a hand.

The average online American fits into Forrester’s ‘Social Snackers’ category — they don’t shy away from social interactions with brands and companies, but neither do they frequently seek out such interactions. Marketers targeting this audience should treat social tools as a secondary, rather than a primary, part of their marketing plan.

Are your customers and prospects social snackers? The probability is high. But they may fall into one of Forrester’s other categories: Skippers, Savvies or Stars.

Back to Proulx’s contention for a moment. I agree that people want to be heard and cared for by customer service reps, online and in person. But how does this jive with Forrester’s Snacker persona? Do Snackers, who are in the majority, want deep engagement with brands they follow online? I think the answer is yes, but only when it matters. When there’s a billing dispute or a service error of some sort, it matters.

Given how many of us are Snackers, what are brands are doing all day, every day in social media channels?

There’s no doubt that the chance to add value is there, staring every brand in the face. But effectively delivering on the promise of SMM means coming up with the perfect mix of social updates for your clearly identified audience (see above) — say 30% brand building, 50% conversational/relationship building, and 20% promotional, or whatever ratios your market situation calls for.

One pro who knows what the situation calls for is Pete Blackshaw, global head of digital marketing and social media at Nestlé.

People tend to romanticize social media, fans and followers, but there are some really difficult operational questions that need to be asked. How do you ensure you’re properly staffing and resourcing and responding, and doing so 24/7? And with nearly 170 million fans across over 750 brand pages on Facebook alone, this is no easy task.

…Social media is a reflection of brand love, or in some cases issues that people have with brands. It’s kind of a mirror into brand equity, brand performance, brand reputation. The question is, to what extent will the brands proactively manage it or seek to amplify it?

The big takeaway here is the need for rigor and discipline in social media marketing. That’s what clients like Nestlé who spend tens of millions on social media marketing demand and deserve.

Previously on AdPulp: Brand Babble Is Social Media Pollution

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60 Minute Brand Strategist Goes Deep Into Branding With Style

I’ve long ago stopped paying much attention to people who throw around the word “branding” or keep harping on the meaning of “brand.” Because depending on where you work — an ad agency, a design firm, a digital marketing shop, etc. — branding and brand building means something different to you. Still, it’s illuminating to read a book like Idris Mootee’s 60 Minute Brand Strategist: The Essential Brand Book for Marketing Professionals.

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Chock full of fun graphics, minimalist Helvetica type, and lots of quotes, Mootee takes an entertaining shot at systematically defining what a “brand” really is in 2013. There’s a lot of good information about assigning meaning, value and purpose to a brand, as well as the role of customers in reacting to, and sometimes helping to define, a brand’s ethos.

What makes this book a little troublesome is that most of the examples Mootee uses represent global, well-established brands: Starbucks, Virgin, Nike, Nestle, Prada, and many others. And let’s be honest, these brands have spent hundreds of millions of dollars establishing, developing and protecting their brands. So the question becomes, who really is the audience for this book? Anyone working on a startup or very small brand will feel very overwhelmed with the perspective presented, even though there’s valuable information here.

The title of the book comes from Mootee’s suggestion that the book’s breezy format could be read and finished on a “flight from New York to Chicago, or from London to Paris.” Perhaps, but chances are if you’re on one of those flights you don’t need this book. If you’re poolside at a Kansas City Hampton Inn while the kids take a swim, The 60 Minute Brand Strategist might help you, and your brand, even more.

Special thanks to FSB Associates for providing me with a review copy.

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Optimize Your Content To Support Marketing and Drive Sales

Few bloggers keep me, or anyone else, interested for long. When one does it is worth noting.

Geoff Livingston writes beautifully about marketing, and content marketing in particular, which is not easy to do.

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Given the level of noise in the sector at the moment, I appreciate his insights and skilled delivery all the more. Here’s a recent clip:

Marketing is not the final product. Yet for some reason we treat it like a stand alone offering in our marketing conversations online. It’s frustrating to hear conversations about companies modeling after Red Bull, and then watch hundreds try to become a media company. Much of the resulting customer-centric content is created haphazardly with a blind eye to customer-brand relationship.

If I hear Livingston correctly, he’s saying don’t get lost in online engagement, as it may or may not be a brand-building activity. Duly noted!

In related news, Matt Kumin, founder and CEO of PublishThis suggests, “Developing an editorial voice is akin to building a brand.” Kumin also says you are what you eat, that “the content and sources that a company consumes define it as well as any outbound marketing or message that is communicated.”

Two lessons from Kumin’s piece: 1) Careful what you curate and 2) Seek out and digest highly nourishing media. The main takeaway from Livingston’s piece is concentrate on relationships with customers and then use media judiciously to support and/or enhance the brand experience.

Photo credit: Flickr user, technotheory

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Do You Care Enough To Overcome Consumer Indifference?

“Fail harder” is a Wieden+Kennedy maxim. But if failure isn’t your thing, you can take the following advise from Martin Weigel’s, “How to (not) Fail” deck. Weigel is Head of Planning at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, and his deck neatly illustrates “the gulf that exists between marketing’s bouts of hubris and the consumer’s reality.”

I particularly enjoy slide 100. “Our task is not nurturing enthusiasm but overcoming indifference.”

Words mean something; yet we too often treat words and their meaning as inventions that can be bent to our will. Weigel argues that “the rhetoric and metaphor of modern marketing – community, relationships, fans, loyalty, love, etc. – fundamentally misunderstands how people really feel and behave towards brands.”

Speaking of misunderstanding behavior, see Slide 24, a quote from Paul Adams, Global Head of Brand Design at Facebook:

Almost every App built for a brand on Facebook has practically no usage…Heavy “immersive experiences are not how people engage and interact with brands. Heavyweight experiences will fail because they don’t map to real life.”

Yet, here we are tasked with deepening customer engagement. There is no running away from the language and paradigms of our day. So what can you do? You can’t call bullshit all day, day after day and remain employed for long. A better plan is to honestly assess the tasks before you, and politely poke holes in them where needed, replacing false metaphors and flimsy thinking as you go. Then, whatever real ideas that remain can breathe.

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Fast, We Need A Strategy

Richard Huntington writes clean sentences and places them on his site, Adliterate, for our enjoyment.

The business world has little time for the desperately bright, painfully academic, socially inept and ponderous planner.

Indeed, in our time squeezed environment it is tough to make the case for strategy at all.

See what I mean?