AdAge’s Bob Garfield doesn’t think so. But Bob seems to take pleasure in being the curmudgeon of advertising. If you haven’t seen this campaign on the air, then take a look. I’ll have to admit, this brutal honesty and self-awareness caught me off guard. Sure, I was curious to see if they really made their product better. But more importantly, I empathized with the brand. Not just the brand, but the people behind the brand. Call me naive, but I think they actually humanized the brand.

Focus group poop

We all know how it feels to have our work pooped on, whether the criticism is deserved or not. Those of us who have had our work scrutinized, misinterpreted, and rewritten by a focus group have a unique appreciation for the reaction of the Domino’s chefs as they listen to the feedback about the cardboard crust and the sauce that tastes like ketchup. Of course we can assume that these reaction shots of dejected chefs were staged for this spot, but the emotion has got to be real.

Transparency chic

Transparency is the new black. So many brands are attempting to at least look honest and accessible by letting everyone peek behind the curtain. Even our government is getting in on that action. When you go to the Pizza Turnaround website, you’ll see real time tweets about the new pizza and the campaign. It seems to be unfiltered. I saw plenty of negative comments, but the majority seem to be supportive and appreciative.

Insight that can’t be ignored

When a brand is as plagued by negativity and bad luck as Domino’s, you can’t pretend everything is fine. A “new and improved” message would have been a yawn. I think this was the only move left for this brand. And because I now feel something for them, I hope it works.

So little of advertising is still advertising. But fortunately ideas are still ideas. I’ve collected a few examples here that show off some creative ways that ambient and social media have been used. These are brands that have gone beyond the standard Facebook product page or the CEO Twitter account to bring some creativity back to marketing.

Coffee Company PowerPoint Slide

This coffee company in the Netherlands offered a free cup of coffee to students who slipped a Coffee Company slide into their PowerPoint presentations. Pretty cool to have a word from your sponsor in the middle of your slideshow.

Terminator Salvation Twitter game

This nicely executed movie promotion enticed Twitter users to watch for tweets from @resistance2018 which contained fill-in-the-blank puzzles, word jumbles, and trivia. Players could rack up points by “decoding these transmissions” in a reply tweet.

Papa John’s Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality is one of the most notable new media tricks around. It’s a way of getting a users webcam to trigger a 3-D animation on screen. It really gives you the illusion of a hologram. (Is that redundant?) Papa John’s, GE, and Mini are some of the brands who are already making use of it.

Green Works Reverse Graffiti

This eco-friendly mural was created for the launch of Green Works, a 99% plant-based cleaner. San Francisco’s Broadway Tunnel was the filthy backdrop for the artwork of indigenous plant life, which was cleaned with the product. Pretty amazing product demo.

Milky Way Movie Theater Line Barrier

Although it’s questionable whether or not this was produced, it’s still a really fun idea—a great example of why it pays to think about where your target spends time.

Flea Spray Mall Floor Graphic

This giant floor decal lets the foot traffic on the ground floor of an Indonesian mall become the fleas on the dog. I do wish they had rotated the dog image 180 degrees so he wouldn’t look like a pork chop. And the line could be better. But still-great idea.

Iams Frisbee

While we’re on the topic of dogs, take a look at this cool giveaway from Iams dog food. To promote the healthy and strong dogs message, they created these plastic frisbees to look like 10kg weights to be distributed at dog parks.

STA Travel Facebook Page

Few brands with Facebook pages support their fanbase the way this student-focused travel agency does. They give their page a human voice with lots of interaction, contests, giveaways, etc. Plus, they constantly create incentives for users to become fans, which, when they do, ripples through the networks of Facebook friends.

---

There’s still so much discussion around marketing through social media and making the most of limited media budgets. We will have to not only master these media options, but continually find new touchpoints as well.

Let’s remember to send a postcard to our old friends Print and Television—let them know we’ll still visit from time to time.

Over the last six months,  almost every marketing company has had to call their agency to inform them that the budget has been cut.  Not big news this year given the tough economy. Wisdom says to increase marketing spending when the business is down. Increase demand and increase sales, right? Well, I realize that is not reality when the CEO or the CFO calls in todays market.  This type of year tends to create a very “inward” focus for everyone and that mindset makes marketing professionals think about cutting costs and saving money. External focus is often overlooked. Marketing tactics and programs are cut very quickly but rarely is there a change in the strategy or a new focus on a narrower target audience. The result is a dilution of the effectiveness of marketing spending. 

There is a better solution. In tight times, agencies should be recommending to clients to narrow their strategic focus first and then realign their spending.  We have all heard the saying, “all customers are not created equal”,  yet too many times the spending plan  does not reflect this type of thinking.  Similar programs are conducted as the year before but they just reduce the amount spent. In these tough times, it is critical to focus the strategy and the budget where it will have the biggest impact on the business. That might be  retaining your best customers, narrow your target for your promotional or media spend, increasing your share among your mid tier customers or a number of other strategies .

So unless you have an endless budget like our friends in Washington, take the time and “focus”, dont just “cut”. These are not easy decisons to make but taking the time to think through the challenge will make a significant difference in the performance of the business.

As marketers, we’ve all fallen into this trap. We look at the description of the target audience and say, “That’s me!” Then we start thinking we can be the ultimate judge of the creative work and all we have to do is pick the ad that appeals to us personally. But it’s not that easy. No matter how much passion you have for the brand you work on, no matter how much you resemble the target persona, you’re still not the target. Here’s why.

1. You care too much. It’s not possible for you to be impartial when making decisions about the brand’s communication because you have a personal stake in the outcome. Of course you can still make good decisions; it just means you need to remember that the target audience doesn’t want your product. They only want what it can do for them.

2. You know too much. Even your best brand advocates don’t know your brand as well as you do. Your target audience doesn’t know your brand’s quarterly sales figures or manufacturing specs. They might not even remember your tagline. To reiterate the point from above: they only want to know what your brand can do for them.

3. You think too much. You spend a lot of time thinking about the product, the brand, the distribution channels, the competitive environment, the purchase decision process, and so on. The reality is that the target is not going to think that hard about it, even for a so-called high-involvement purchase decision. They may only think, “What can this brand do for me?”

So you’re never really the target. That’s great! Why? Because you don’t have to be the target to communicate with the target.

But what you do need is the right insight about who they are to start a meaningful conversation about what your brand can do for them. And when you’re ready to judge the creative work, remember whose eyes you need to look through.

I’m writing this on a cross country flight.  While I don’t exactly relish the “pleasures” of commercial air travel these days, when I fly coast to coast I’m always struck by the vastness of our nation.  What’s interesting is how making this trip during the day versus at night impacts my thinking.

During the day I look out the window and I’m struck by the vastness of the space, and but how much open space we have to enjoy in the country.  From 35,000 feet, during the day the landscape is dominated by natural features – mountains and lakes and plains and canyons.  But at night, the real opportunity we marketers have becomes apparent.  At night I’m always dazzled by the seemingly never-ending string of lights below.  I realize that each light is a home or a business – in essence each light is somebody’s customer.  The possibility presented by all these lights is nearly limitless.

So why is it, amid the vastness of the opportunity that is the American consumer, that marketers still feel compelled to shout their messages, as loudly possible, to as many people as possible?  With consumers taking control of their media consumption like never before these marketers just get lost in the din.  And it doesn’t have to be that way. 

Just look at the lights.  There’s so much opportunity.  But to win requires focus.  Pick your fights carefully.  You can’t beat everyone.  And if you try to mean too much to too many you’ll end up meaning nothing to everyone.   Segment your market. Pick your fight, and unmass your message.  It’s a big country.  To compete and win you need to make it as small as you can.

A small bank based in Fort Worth Texas went after the big guys. And so far, it’s working. One billboard at a time, they are riding the wave of consumer opinion that the banks must have done something wrong if they needed TARP money. By letting people know that Worthington Bank didn’t take any of that money, they are creating a halo effect. People are feeling more comfortable putting their money into Worthington. But comfort isn’t the only motivating factor. It’s pride. Most people have worked very hard for what savings they have and take pride in knowing that they’ve been able to survive on their own without much help from others. They relate to a bank that does the same. It’s not that they wanted the economy to go into a tailspin or that they don’t think people should get help when they need it. But banks are not exactly an easy institution to sympathize with. And consumers understand that no matter how small their account is, what they do with their money is in fact a vote for what they stand for. Understanding this consumer insight has proved to be priceless.

Billboards saying things such as “Just say no to Bailout Banks. Bank responsibly,” “Did your bank take a bailout? We didn’t,” and my personal favorite that was placed next to the local zoo “Don’t feed the animals” with the word animals crossed out and “big banks” scribbled in.

And while big banks are crying foul saying that TARP money was important and helped a lot of people out, this little bank is growing rapidly. To the tune of $5 million in new deposits since the launch of the campaign. In their own little way, consumers are saying enough is enough with the poor me mentality of big banks.

After all, if we’ve learned anything from the automobile manufacturer Ford lately, it’s that stability is still part of the American dream.

Here is a video about the work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SNCuQ04ang.

Some of the back and forth about the campaign:
http://www2.snl.com/Interactivex/article.aspx?CdId=A-9218440-12642
http://www.bizpress.net/display.php?id=9849

In a recent national study conducted by Trone, Inc., moms were asked to give their opinions on how well today’s advertisers understand them.  While it may come as no surprise that moms think advertisers could do a better job appealing to them, the extent to which moms feel disconnected to today’s advertising may well shock industry insiders.

Only 14% of moms agreed that advertisers understand what it’s like to be a mom or that advertisers understand the problems they face as a mom.  Furthermore, only 26% indicated that advertising was useful to moms.  The results are in, so what’s an advertiser to do?

While many of today’s attempts to reach out to moms rely on various means of expressing appreciation for the “supermom” or depicting the mom whose life is “picture perfect,” Trone’s research suggests that a more resonant approach would be to simply understand moms more realistically.  That is, to appreciate moms – warts and all - in a way that more fully realizes that moms don’t come in a “one size fits all” variety.

Broadly speaking, today’s moms come in three varieties each representing about a third of the market - the “me first” mom, “kids first” moms and “info first” moms.  While all moms share things in common such as having stress over not being able to get everything done, each type of mom has her own unique challenges and issues. 

Advertisers and the brands they work for would be well-advised to work at understanding these moms in the contexts they find themselves and to speak to them accordingly.  For example, while “me first” moms are likely interested in staying on top of current trends and styles, “kids first” moms would likely find messaging with traditional values appealing.

What may appeal to some of a brand’s moms may hinder others or even impair brand equity.  A brand’s ability to identify the different types of moms who comprise its customer base and optimally connect with each of them will be integral to continued growth.

Just ask yourself three simple questions: 1)Is it interesting? 2)Is it meaningful? 3)Is it true? If it’s interesting, then the creative is doing what it should. If it’s meaningful, then the strategy is working for you too.  But finding a universal truth is just as important when creating good work.

Finding the truth.

Contrary to public opinion, truth and advertising go together perfectly well. You could even say that an ad works only if it rings true for the consumer. If your message is unbelievable, then your ad certainly fails.  But the details of the execution matter too. When something like casting, location, or dialog is a little off, people notice. They might not get your message at all because they’re too distracted by the part that doesn’t feel right and they’ll be quick to call it out.

Getting it wrong.

I hate to pick on any spot because I know how many forces can be working against you, but this Sea World spot fails on a fundamental level. They put these lofty beliefs in the mouths of kids and it makes me think they have no idea what children are really like. Have you ever heard a kid say, “I believe that fun is a renewable resource?” It fails the truth test.

Getting it right.

This Chef Boyardee spot an example of  an execution that is built on truth. Part of what makes this spot work is good acting, but the mom-dad-kid dynamic is totally believable. It all seems true to me.

Finding something true to build on doesn’t mean it has to be a traditional slice-of-life ad. In this Denny’s spot, themed “Breakfast has been taken over by the machines,” they start with the truth that machines—by virtue of not being human—are insensitive.

Try out these criteria next time you’re judging creative work. I’ll bet you find that if it’s interesting and meaningful, and it’s based on a simple truth, you’ve got a good ad.

According to Facebook, I desperately need to diet and check my IQ. I am also a proud new mother of a baby, though last I checked, I haven’t birthed any children.

Facebook has been hard at work generating more robust, customized ad platforms for their highly popular social network, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing even more advertising options after they roll out their new home page design. Unfortunately, like most other Facebook users I know, I barely noticed these ads—that is, until I started getting a disturbing onslaught of ads parading babies in my face. The worst so far have been these ads with extremely creepy, multiple-eyed babies saying I should take an IQ test. These are usually presented with other ads telling me to check out a new fruit cleanse diet (Oprah tried it, and it worked miracles). I’m starting to think Facebook has characterized me as an overweight new mother with time on hand to take quizzes rating my intellect. We’re all aware that Facebook taps into our profile information for advertisers to target certain audiences. What befuddles me is that nowhere in my information does it say anything about babies.

The good thing about these ads, though, is that there is a function to give it a thumbs up, thumbs down, or refresh to a next ad. After the 12th time seeing the same mommy-and-baby photography services ad, I did the responsible thing and responded to the ad. I gave it a thumbs down and selected “irrelevant” as the reason why (other options include misleading, offensive, uninteresting, repetitive, or other). It felt good to help Facebook and its paying advertisers better target their efforts—I do it for a living, after all. One or two months pass, and I continue to thumbs-down the baby ads day after day. Oddly even more baby ads pop up, and this time creepy ones with four, six eyes. I start marking them all as outright “offensive.” The ads become even more unrelenting, this time even bringing in puppies and other innocent faces with multiple lifeless eyes. It’s gotten to a point where I feel like Facebook is just taunting me. I’m losing a battle being attacked by photoshopped nightmares of things once cute and cuddly, armed with only a two-click courtesy survey.

This whole ordeal ends up being good and bad for Facebook. Good because I started to actually notice their ads. Bad because I only started noticing these ads out of sheer insult. Even worse because I now question Facebook’s ability to really handle ad customization. Maybe as a coping mechanism I can join one of the various Facebook groups created against Facebook ads.

Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to see if you’re going the right way, or the wrong way.  When you’re driving your own car, or brand, dealing with your day-to-day challenges and battling for resources it can be hard to take the long view.  It’s all too easy to say, as John Candy does in Planes, Trains and Automobiles, “how do they know where we’re going?”  I’ve got bad news for you – they know exactly where you’re going.

If you’re cutting your investment in marketing today you are going the wrong way.

In spite of study after study, when the economy turns south marketers cut spending.  Empirical evidence tells us all it’s the wrong thing do, but how can we resist?  (For some ideas, here’s a great article from Harvard Business School professor John Quelch.  http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5878.html )

For most companies, their marketing spend, while large in absolute terms, isn’t a huge line item on the corporate ledger (direct sellers like Temperpedic and The Snuggie are exceptions), so why does it get cut?  The answer is quite simple: because it’s easy.  Marketing dollars, particularly advertising dollars, when cut fall directly and immediately to the bottom line. No one has to be laid off.  Other difficult decisions can be avoided.  And since too many CEO’s view marketing as an expense rather than an investment, it’s the first thing to go.  The reality is that CEO’s need to look at marketing as more of a balance sheet item than income statement item. 

 “…some of the biggest names in branding (including Procter and Gamble who survived the crash of the 1930s) are suggesting marketers at all levels do just the opposite [of cutting budgets] and are even going as far as encouraging companies to stay on track, but use dollars carefully.”  From “market onward, market stronger” – positions shared at recent annual Association of National Advertisers Conference.

 “It is incredibly important to be risk-takers in the economic climate we’re in. People have the tendency to pull back. In economic times like these, you don’t hunker down and go in the bunker.”  Hewlett-Packard VP and CMO Michael Mendenhall

Those brave souls who can fight, and it is a fight right now, to invest in their brand will see their investments deliver meaningful dividends. 

Do you know where you’re going?