Hasta La Creative!

Once upon a time, I thought that I was an Atheist (the position that deities do not exist). But, I was confused: I was an Agnostic (there is no verifiable proof of a God). Now, I think that I’m simply a believer.

This all came flooding back today as I drove through the Loop on my way to lunch. I had just left a meeting outside the city, and was driving, trying to pay attention without much luck. It’s illegal to use cell phones while driving here, so there went half my entertainment. The other half, the radio, was playing alternative rock. Bored, I started people watching while caught in stop/go traffic. I watched as people scurried about as I patiently cut off a honking cab that was edging in between my car and a bus. It was then that I noticed the banner on the side of the bus, and I stopped watching the cab and thought “Huh. I wonder what they are advertising.” The bus and my car were stuck together two blocks later and I exclaimed aloud;

“Those are the Indiana Atheist ads!”

The Indiana Atheists (IA) picked up the idea from atheists in Canada and London, where pro-Atheist bus campaigns have already run. In London, a month-long, 800 bus onslaught was derived by a London comedy writer that saw Christian ads being displayed on public transportation. Ariane Sherine, self-proclaimed atheist, came up with the slogan, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” The story was picked up by Time as one of the top religion stories of the year.

Unfortunately, the Indiana Atheists were late hitting Chicago

The pious have been buying ad space from the city’s decaying, cash-strapped public transportation system for a while. One recent religious ad read, “ISLAM. Got questions? Get answers. FREE Quran & Literature,” followed by a toll-free telephone number.

Chicago was not the first target sought by the IA; Bloomington, IN, turned the advertising down. Thesecond target was South Bend. Pro-religion bus ads had already run in South Bend, so the city had little choice when it came to ad acceptance.

Why do the atheists advertise? There is no message, no real group solidarity, and their self-stated goal is that they are not out winning converts. Are they branding?

According to Roy Speckhardt, Executive Director of the American Humanist Association;

“…you don’t see [atheists] having a caucus in Congress or anywhere else. It’s a group that’s been in the closet. People are afraid to ‘come out’ to their families and say they don’t believe in God.” The ads are designed to show lonely atheists that they do not walk alone — and they can go on disbelieving.

Although I bleed CMYK, it seems to me that donations could be spent in a much more effective manner to tell lonely atheists that they are not alone. People that are “good without God,” could start up a shelter to feed the homeless, help the poor pay bills, or buy groceries for a hundred families. The message would actually be stronger (doing good without God) due to their actions. Add that to the fact that news outlets are searching for “feel good” stories, the IA would; help a needy family; send their message, and; generate positive public relations. A Win-Win-Win.

My one question, “How did they determine that cadres of closeted atheists were searching for solace? Did I miss ‘60 Minutes,’ or something?”

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Account Coordinator. His passion is writing. If you would like to get in touch with Jeff, please leave a reply or follow the links: www.linkedin.com or www.twitter.com.

Twitter is proposing a TV competition series depending on your source.

The social-networking service said Monday it has teamed with Reveille productions and Brillstein Entertainment
Partners to develop an unscripted series based on the site, which invites 140-character postings from members around the world. The show would harness Twitter to put players on the trail of celebrities in an interactive, competitive format.

The only problem with this proposal is that the show would get phenomenal ratings and people would love it, but only for a while. Twitter will not only be our “amazing” communication forum, but our favorite reality TV show, too! To me, it sounds like a bad idea, if not a boring one.

However, Reveille has an impressive stable of shows, so “Twube” (I made that up) might be a hit. The producers have brought us “The Office”, “Ugly Betty” and “The Tudors” (Showtime), plus reality program “The Biggest Loser.” Supporters state that the series will show the TV-viewing world the immediacy of Twitter. And Brillstein Entertainment is no slacker either.

“Twitter is transforming the way people communicate, especially celebrities and their fans,” said Reveille managing director Howard T. Owens, who expects the new project to “unlock Twitter’s potential on TV.”

When I have tried to talk to a celeb, they never answer. I’ve even “befriended” LiLo like four times! I don’t want to be the
bearer of bad news, but when Ashton Kutcher found out about the proposed project, he was not happy. In fact, he was Punk’d! Mashable reported that Ashton tweeted,” Wow I hope this isn’t true. I really don’t like being sold out. May have to take a twitter hiatus.” Was that a threat?

Ashton, however, does not have to worry. Twitter denied everything regarding a “Twittervision” spectacular.

Now, on the really down side: It does not make sense for Twitter to have a TV show. Either they become a mode of communication, or stay a novelty; and I LIKE Twitter. I just wonder when we’ll start seeing consortiums for 169 characters because some one figured out that this was the optimal number. I don’t know if you use Twitter a lot, but I use it daily, but mainly for picking up information: It is not only a good learning and news tool, but it can be funny as well. Maybe it’s just me, but the conversations that I have had on the almighty Twitter have been, well, trite and quick. Some people never respond when you answer their question, and others are 2 – 3 Tweets and out.

I have, however, picked up freelance work via Twitter while TV has only provided me with poor eyesight.

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Account Coordinator. His passion is writing. If you would like to get in touch with Jeff, please leave a reply or follow the links: www.linkedin.com or www.twitter.com.

“No one is buying right now. Business will come back in Q4. It’ll get better. Our clients aren’t spending at the moment.”

Is that what you are hearing from agencies? Is that what management is saying? That’s like me stating that I can’t get a job because no one is hiring. But companies are hiring, and businesses are making money. The reason that your clients aren’t spending ad dollars is because they’re scared. Scared brings out their conservative side.

Fear, unless it’s for your life, is not the best basis for decision-making. Fear is an anxious state. Think back on the all the right decisions you’ve made and determine how many were based on fear. Probably not many.

So, while many businesses have their heads in the sand, others are using ingenuity to overcome. Enter The Taco Maker:

The Taco Maker, a Puerto Rico-based fast-food chain, ran a combination radio and mobile-marketing promo in which they gave away free burritos.

The Taco Maker and their agency, BxP, created a character named “Juan Maker” who made radio appearances to talk to local DJs about free stuff. The broadcasts were all recorded and then made into ten 60-second spots that offered a free one-pound burrito to Taco Maker aficionados that texted in the correct answer after hearing the spot.

The agency declined to specify the price of the promotion, but said it cost less than $50,000. For that amount, the agency was able to track consumer response by station, time of day and even DJ. The company focused its ad dollars where they were doing the most good in real time.

Five-thousand texts and 2500 burritos later, the chain reported a 21% sales increase for the region where the promo took place. Hmm, that is so weird.

Jeff Louis: 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, so leave a comment or follow the links: linkedin.com or twitter.com.

“Well,” he said, ” at least the economy looks to be turning around.” I nearly spit up…luckily the cat was still asleep. What? Who was this guy? Ahh-just another analyst on late night TV. One of the ones that don’t make it to Evening News. Credible at times, totally off-kilter at others. Think “Ross Perot.” The economy is in such a state that when the market closes “up” at any point during the week, it’s breaking news. “We’re sorry to interrupt this program, but the Dow has just closed at it’s highest point this week, and the S&P shows signs of breaking even. Tune in to Channel 6 News tonight to hear about this exciting historic development.” 

Unfortunately, with the economy, or lack thereof, many advertisers have been forced to reduce their spending, which means only one thing: More Informercials.

But wait! There’s More! If you act now, you can catch the Discovery Channel’s reality show about infomercials!. It’s called Pitchmen, and stars none other than Bill Mays. I watched it for the longest half hour of my life the other night, and two weeks later saw the product that was featured on the reality show in an infomercial. In fact, I wonder if they run infomercials during the reality show about infomercials. It would make sense…but we would have to change the show type from reality to surreality. Pitchmen would not the sole surreality member; Date My Mom,  Rock of Love and  Shot at Love with Tila Tequila would fit in the category as well.

If you have not seen or heard about the benefits of a ShamWow or a Snuggy yet, stay up past 10 pm and you will.  These two spots are on so much that they should be put up for a People’s Choice Award.

You’ve probably heard this before, but let just in case: Everything seen on TV…even the news…is not the whole truht. Some things are fit for consumption, others are not.  Take ShamWow and Snuggy: First, the ShamWow is a damn sham(e);  if you’ve ever watched the spot, you’ll know what I mean. And in surreality, the spokesman for the ShamWow. 

It seems that the intrepid host for the magical cloth was jailed for punching out a hooker when she bit his tongue, causing it to bleed profusely.

As if that weren’t bad enough, the  Snuggy, according to The Consumerist, has been found to be guilty of coming apart in the wash!

But wait! There’s More!

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Account Coordinator. His passion is writing. If you would like to get in touch with Jeff, please leave a reply or follow the links: www.linkedin.com or www.twitter.com.

If you’re anything like me, “change” is a word that has been overused of late. Well, unfortunately, it’s going to happen again: Change. Change. CHANGE!

Change the way you think. Change the way you act. Look at your client from another angle. Ask someone else what they see. Don’t rely on what you think you know, go and find out what others know. 

Our industry beat the phrase, “Think Outside the Box” into the ground, but now-really-it’s time to think outside the box. If you wait for your clients to come to you, it’s too late…trust me, others have great ideas, just like you do. The only difference is that they’re acting on theirs. So, Refresh. Renew. Revitalize. Do something…something is always better than nothing.

Try Guerrilla! It’s relatively inexpensive. You can target geographically. It’s tactical. It makes a splash. It may get you in trouble, but it gets the message out…and PR is PR, right?

Granted, it won’t be perfect for every client, but you have at least one that would benefit. Automotive? Entertainment? Packaged Goods? Think it’s not for your clients? Think again: MSN, Yahoo, Carmex, Disney, Activision, CBS, TBS, New Balance, Absolut, AT&T, New York Sports Clubs, Pepsi, and tons of new movie releases have all recently used some form of poster advertising.

You’re there because you’re creative. So, be creative.

Jeff Louis: 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: linkedin.com or twitter.com.

Craigslist is dropping the “erotic services” portion of it’s site due to pressure from impending lawsuits and a murder linked to the site.

Unfortunately, the fix is nothing more than lip service. The category will simply be renamed and Craigslist will charge an additional fee for its use. Additionally, Craigslist employees will monitor posts before they appear online, something for which Craigslist has been criticized since adult advertising on the site started. Police in numerous states have used Craigslist as a tool to set up prostitution ”stings” and the fact that sex is available on Craigslist is well-known. Is Craigslist worried?

Probably not. According to Craigslist attorney, Eric Brandfonbrener, appearing in federal court for a hearing on [an Illinois] lawsuit, told U.S. District Judge John Grady that the site would change to satisfy the lawsuit:

“My expectation is that it will be moot,” Brandfonbrener told the judge. [Illinois] attorney Daniel Gallagher said he remained skeptical. “They’ve made promises to attorneys general in the past,” Gallagher said, noting that
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal had brokered an agreement with the site in November to crack down on prostitution ads after being contacted about several complaints about photographs depicting nudity. “I’m not going to take their word for it, we want to see action.”

The best thing to come out of this is that if you are searching for sex, AshleyMadison.com is now available! Ashley Madison is an adult service that encourages adults to have affairs, and their tagline says it all: Life is Short. Have an Affair.™ Unlike Craigslist, however, Ashley Madison guarantees that if you are not knocking boots, or at least hooking up by your 90-day anniversary, they’ll refund you $249.00 (the cost to join?). In April, Ashley Madison began advertising in Chicago, and although many US stations have refused to air their ads, some Chicago stations are running the spots. Ashley Madison’s newest innovation is that members can Have An Affair Anywhere, a mobile phone service that allows members to hook up while traveling.

But, a Guarantee! And to think of all money I wasted on drinks…

Jeff Louis: 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: linkedin.com/in/jefflouis or twitter.com/jlo0312.

A Brief History

Being from the media world, it is easy to forget that not everyone knows what media-philes talk about when they say things like CPP, CPM, Impressions, etc. Likewise, it’s fair to assume that not everyone understands what Nielsen does, or why they do it.

So, here is a quick definition: “Nielsen Ratings are audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States.” There are two methods for obtaining the information; the first is automatic and uses a device hooked to your TV. The second is what is known as the diary method…exactly what it sounds like. Families are chosen nationwide and fill out diaries regarding what they watch, and when, the process is for them to write it down. If you have never participated, it is a royal PITA (Pain In The Ass). The diary system is antiquated multifold cardboard pages, and Nielsen actually hypes the fact that this is a great system, asking viewers to write down every network they watch. If I remember correctly, one of the larger problems that we had was trying to figure out shows recorded on DVR. Did Nielsen update the diaries from the1930’s, when they started? It doesn’t look like it. Obviously, the diary method needs to be replaced, but for now, it’s what we have.

Glitches In The Gears

Nielsen’s problems stem from two main sources:

• They are the ONLY game in town.
• When mistakes are made, they impact the entire TV industry…from the
  networks and agencies to clients.

Last week, Nielsen had another infamous “server” problem and was not able to deliver ratings for four days. So, many think “big deal.”

Believe it: it is a HUGE deal. Ratings determine prices for spots. They also report how each show does on an overnight basis. Thus, when Nielsen could not provide ratings for four days last week due to a the malfunction, that left media planners and buyers with nowhere to turn for optimizing their clients TV buys, potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of “unknowns. To put it into perspective, the television industry relies on $60 billion in ad revenues yearly…all depending on Nielsen.

Unfortunately, Nielsen also announced that the data provided by People Meters (hooked to TV’s in Nielsen households) underrepresented the number of viewers actually watching TV.

Nielsen says it’s “working around the clock” to fix things and get back on schedule, but the networks who use the numbers to help set ad rates and schedules are, not surprisingly, pretty upset. The system failure “couldn’t
have come at a worse time,” NBC research boss Alan Wurtzel told The New York Times. “This comes at a particularly tough time of year because all of us are making evaluations about bubble shows and time periods and so forth.”

Forward on Three Legs

Improvements do not seem to be coming soon…Nielsen has been laying off employees to keep expenses low. Those jobs have been outsourced to Tata, and India-based consultancy. How Nielsen expects to fix everything that is broken with the five people still working at the company remains to be seen.

But until then, are we to take ratings with a “grain of salt?” Not only late, but incorrect?

Jeff Louis: 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: linkedin.com/in/jefflouis or twitter.com/jlo0312..

Google, Google, Everywhere…

There’s probably not a day in our lives for the last five years that we have not come in to contact with Google in some way or another; a very charismatic and sticky brand, here is where we daily find Google:  from trade pubs (IT, Advertising, and Marketing) to our home and work computers, Google has become a brand that has become a staple of our day to day online interactions. There are, of course, purists out there that use other search engines simply because they are not Google…but they are few and far between.

Google excels in bringing brand extensions to the user…thus, they are able to capture non-search users with Google Reader (an RSS Feed plugin). They never stop innovating, which is most likely the reason for their success. Some of the company’s newer products include Google Health, Google Finance, Google Labs (very cool), Google Blogs, and even a program for purchasing TV advertising nationally using the AdWords utility. And recently released, there is Google Chrome.

Will Chrome Be The Gold Standard?

Google Chrome is the company’s answer to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Compared head-to-head with IE8, my choice would be Chrome. It’s super fast, does not use a ton of memory, “hangs” infrequently, and is extremely simple to use. It does have drawbacks: no zoom, no status bars, and managing bookmarks is a challenge. Other than that, I dig it. I also have IE8, which has a ton of features, but thus it’s never really worked correctly…

As Seen On TV

But the real reason that Google Chrome is in the headlines is for another reason entirely: Google Chrome has the honor of being the first Google product to be advertised on television (although search has made “appearances” in other advertiser’s spots).

Touted as an experiment, Google states that they will use the Google TV Ads system, which includes cable systems and networks that allow Google to sell some of their inventory. Echostar’s Dish Network and NBC Universal cable networks like CNBC, Sleuth and Chiller are some of their available networks. The entire endeavor will be low cost.

Google started a marketing campaign for Chrome last month in which it commissioned 11 videos from small creative firms that were initially posted and promoted on YouTube. Recently, Google started placing those videos on websites through ad buys, including an expandable ad on the front page of the New York Times’ website.

Jeff Louis: 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: linkedin.com/in/jefflouis or twitter.com/jlo0312.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) has launched a campaign begging consumers to have a digital-free Sunday. The paper, owned by Cox enterprises, rolled out the over $1 million campaign this week with the tagline “Unplug. It’s Sunday.” The campaign is to promote the Sunday newspaper as a way to escape the ringing of cell phones, e-mail notifications, IM, and all of the other digital devices that “clutter” our work weeks. Instead of reading the news on an RSS Feed, we can lug out the seven pound paper and spend some quality time getting newsprint on our fingers. Nice. The campaign is slated to run for the remainder of the year.

Perhaps the funniest (or dumbest) thing about this story is that Cox Enterprises chose a digital agency to lead consumers back to print. The AJC tapped IQ Interactive, an Atlanta digital agency. Weirdly, we can digitally view this couple reading the traditional newspaper, which is like Xeroxing a mirror (don’t do it, you’ll go back in time). The fully-interactive microsite gives off that  ”peeping tom feel,” staring into someones home from a bay window. A couple is sitting on the couch reading the paper, and “Tom” can move from room to room, opening cabinets, running water, and even taking bread from a shopping bag. Voyeurism does have its advantages…

There are other media components to the campaign, including; print, TV, radio, online, point-of-purchase, direct mail, and out of home.

“It’s about how to reposition the newspaper,” said Tony Quin, CEO of IQ Interactive, the independent Atlanta digital shop
that created the campaign. “We came up with the idea as a counterpoint to the digital cacophony that exists in everyone’s
lives. Sunday is the day to relax and do something different than you do the rest of the week.”

The AJC has fared no better than the rest of the newspaper industry; the paper’s circulation dropped twenty percent in the last year for weekdays and Saturdays, and seven percent on Sundays. Earlier this year, the AJC cut 30% of the news staff.

The takeaway: although the marketing team will be gone next year after this debacle, they did show foresight by using forms of media that actually reach the consumer. Just another bullet point for the ol’ resume.

Jeff Louis: 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: linkedin.com/in/jefflouis or twitter.com/jlo0312.

I’ve come to the conclusion that although I think I am radical, the truth is that I must be pretty conservative. It is most likely a product of aging, but that’s only a small percentage of why I think I am a conservative. (I did like George Bush for a while…but it was only months) I don’t take huge risks. Plus, I think that Twittering in church is ridiculous. But, Time reported that churches are indeed embracing Twitter:

Voelz and David McDonald, the other senior pastor at Westwinds Community Church in Jackson, Mich., spent two weeks educating their congregation about Twitter, the microblogging site that challenges users to communicate in 140 characters or less. They held training sessions where congregants brought in their laptops, iPhones and Blackberrys. They upped the bandwidth in the auditorium. (Finding God on YouTube)

It’s not that I believe that Twitter is in any way malicious or wrong, it’s just that, like cell phones while driving, it takes your eye off the ball. People attend church for a reason; to make them feel better, to be closer to God, be a part of a community, or hear something that will aid them during life’s stresses. How can anything of value be heard if members are too busy playing with cell phones? Might as well have them bring in iPods and watch a movie a baseball game.

I am a huge fan of Twitter, Social Media, and new technology. However, I would not DARE to send text messages or answer my cell phone at a staff meeting, during a training presentation, or in front of the CEO. What is not acceptable at the office is okay at church? Hmm.

Jeff Louis: 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: linkedin.com/in/jefflouis or twitter.com/jlo0312.