Most anyone who really knows me knows that I am (moderately) obsessed with getting an iPhone. While trying to wait patiently for my current cell phone contract to expire, I have researched AT&T, previous iPhone models and now the new iPhone 4.

Now with just under a month left in my contract, I am seriously considering taking the leap and signing on the dotted line for the new iPhone 4. As a consumer, I am moving closer to purchasing it. However, with all of the news and talk about the issues it’s having, I continue to weigh my options and consider what the best choice is for me. I also find it interesting what has happened and what is happening in terms of marketing to persuade me in this decision.

Beginning with the product itself, there are many, many reasons why I’d love to have an iPhone. After receiving an iPod Touch last year, I have become very attached to how easy to use and convenient it is. The personal experience I have had with a product very similar to the iPhone is so powerful in getting me to adopt and become familiar with the iPhone itself. It would be so much easier to use an iPhone than a new and different smartphone. Plus, the apps have helped me organize my life, save money and keep up with what’s going on in the news and in social media. I could easily move them onto an iPhone and only have one device instead of both a phone and an iPod Touch.

In terms of word of mouth and consumer recommendations, almost everyone I know who has an iPhone couldn’t live without it. They, too, find it extremely helpful in their daily lives beyond the basics of it just being another smartphone.

The advertising for the iPhone 4 has been overwhelming. Apple’s branding has always resonated with me. The very first FaceTime app commercial was very heartwarming. I’ve seen positive comments about it across Facebook and Twitter.

Of course the iPhone 4 has been plagued with issues in the news. “Antennagate” has seen some iPhone 4 owners struggle with poor reception and dropped calls. Apple’s decision to provide free cases seems to be only a temporary solution. With Consumer Reports not recommending it and competitors joining in the disapproval, the public relations firestorm surrounding iPhone 4’s problems has only increased. And on top of that, the iPhone is still only available through AT&T, which continues to receive complaints about its poor coverage.

In regards to statistics, a recent survey by the International Data Corporation shows 66 percent of current iPhone owners are delaying purchase of the new iPhone 4 due to its antenna problems. However, the issue has not stopped the 74 percent of non-iPhone owners who are moving ahead with purchasing it.

Overall, the experience I’ve had with the iPod Touch, the friends that I know who love their iPhones and the research that I’ve done push me closer to getting one sooner rather than later. I’d love to wait for Verizon to finally provide it through their network, but that has been an unrealized possibility for awhile now. I have to weigh out all of the messages—the great brand and product advertising, the social media talk, the press it has received and the way Apple is handling their public relations issues―with my own perceptions, needs and desires as a consumer. Maybe it’s time for me to take the risk and finally see for myself what all the (good and bad) fuss is all about.

When I say mom’s burden, I’m not talking about moms’ stereotypical overstuffed calendar.  And please don’t think for a second that I’m referring to annoying grass stains, bathtub stains, or anything else that may have vexed and flustered supermoms in black and white sitcoms.

I’m talking about the invisible mental burden, the pressure that still exists to feel and appear in control of everything in the domestic domain, that keeps me up organizing and sprucing until 11pm the night before my in-laws come to town, even though my husband declared the house clean and ready at 7pm.  (Okay, so maybe I am kind of talking about those vexing bathtub stains – but not really.)  It’s the same invisible burden that splits me between pride and embarrassment when I tell someone that my husband is the chef in the family.  And it’s the same mental burden that intensified when I first became pregnant, for instance, turning something as simple as my lunch choice into a divergent life path for my child to be. Pick organic soup from Whole Foods and I was setting my child up to be intelligent, well rounded, and graduate-school bound.  Pick the fried sandwich from Chick-fil-a I was really craving, and I was dooming my child to early-childhood obesity and repeating second and third grade.

76% of moms in a Babycenter poll said they felt pressure to be the “perfect” mother.  Not good, not great, but perfect.  Why is this pressure so intense for moms?  Is it regulation-issued at birth, or is it driven by outdated societal expectations that have yet to catch up with the 50-hour workweek realities of many moms?  Have we taken on more without mentally taking anything off of our collective plates?

Whatever the cause, the effects of needing to feel in total control of the domestic domain lead to less satisfaction and joy in moms’ life, and more stress.  In fact, a UT Austin study found that in households where fathers help out equally or more with domestic duties, moms feel an increased sense of satisfaction in the marriage, but a decreased sense of self-esteem.  So, right or wrong, and whether she chooses to act on it or not, mom still derives a large part of her sense of self from how she contributes at home.  This is not to say that moms don’t want dads to help out more in the household, just that there are strange and complex mental side effects associated with dad’s help.

Additionally, a recent Canadian study found that new moms who feel the need to be perfect are more likely to suffer from postpartum depression.  And moms who dealt with those feelings by trying to appear that they didn’t have a problem had the strongest link to postpartum depression.

The lesson for moms and marketers is to work together to relieve the invisible burden.  We’re exploring moms’ pressures through our Mom Tugs framework, so that we can help brands better understand the pulls and pressures moms feel in their category and help them resolve the tension (and make the sale).  And moms are already banding together on blogs, message boards and over dinner and drinks to share and laugh about their unreasonable self-expectations, slowly releasing the perfection pressure valve created modern society.  Is your brand a part of the laughter and release, or a still part of the problem?

Multi-generational households are on the rise, and we hear a lot about it this time of year with a new crop of college grads opting for living with the ‘rents over paying rent on their own.  According to a recent study released from the Pew Research Center, there are now 49 million Americans living in multigenerational households.  That’s one in 6 people waking up to breakfast with a grown daughter, brother, dad or grandma! Moreover, there was a 30% increase in households containing three or more generations of family members between 2000 and 2009.  That’s 6.6 million households last year!  Said another way, as many as 20% of adults 25 to 35 and 20% of adults over 65 are living in multi-generational homes.

It’s a trend that is ripe with opportunity for brands paying attention.  Whether a temporary fix or a permanent fixture in American households, this increase leads me to wonder about all of the consumer decisions being affected by this generational cross pollination.  Having been a “boomeranger” myself about 10 years ago, I’ve experienced, firsthand, how moving back in with mom and dad can permanently affect brand and buying decisions for everyone.  When I moved back home, I’d already been surviving on my own a few years. And I knew I couldn’t keep surviving on staples like Lean Cuisines and takeout, so I paid more attention to moms’ weeknight recipes and brand preferences in everything from pasta to brownie mix.  I humored dad by watching Band of Brothers for his 70th, 95th, and 98th viewings, and they humored me by spending Sunday nights with The Sopranos and the ladies of Sex and the City (much to all of our discomfort in certain episodes).  And mom got me hooked on CBS Sunday Morning – a weekend ritual I still enjoy.  I convinced dad to move up from an ATM card to a Debit card, and he convinced me that calling Wachovia for my balance is not the same as balancing my checkbook.  Even my cat became a wet-food snob under the influence of my parents’ pampered cat.

The So What for Marketers:

While those examples might not fit neatly into marketing plans, this shift in households is one worth exploring for your brand.  Here are a few thought-starters for finding opportunities within this trend:

Take advantage of shared entertainment: Wii Tennis, anyone?  More and more entertainment is catering across generational lines. And multi-generational travel is said to be the fastest growing travel segment.  Whether it’s your media plan or a promotion, look for ways to connect to entertainment that crosses the new generational boundaries of households.

Reflect their reality: New shows like Modern Family and Parenthood feature plots that involve three generations, and Parenthood even explores an adult daughter moving back in with her retired parents, but there’s lots of room for advertisers to explore this space.  Why is it that the only ad I can think of that reflects this reality is the Folgers father/daughter spot, where the adult daughter living at home announces to her father she is getting married?  Complete patriarchal lameness aside, I give Folgers props for recognizing the multi-generational household.

Understand the generational dynamics of your category: Is your brand equally loved across generations or is there growth opportunity among younger or older generations?  Who leads and who follows?  Can you turn mom, granny or daughter into an influencer to the rest of the family?

There are times when I see advertising and I imagine the creative presentation meeting in my head in amazement. The new Spirit airlines oil campaign was one of those examples. I can just hear a guy in a wrinkled dress shirt saying, “The oil spill in the gulf is top-of-mind with everyone right now. We need to tap into that with our new campaign.” What I wonder at that point is how he possibly convinced everyone to agree with him.

Everyone in the room had to have known that there would be a backlash. There are Gulf Coast fishermen who can’t pay their bills. Hotels that can’t fill their rooms. And people who are terrified that their lives will never be the same. Yet somehow, Spirit decided none of that mattered. That a campaign which poked fun at the situation was just what everyone needed to forget about the spill and suddenly want—or need—a $50 discount on an airline ticket to the beach.

I guess they’re of the school of thought that All PR is Good PR. But I, personally, think those days are over. Now that consumers have the power to send tweets, make Facebook^® updates and create their own YouTube^® videos, one wrong decision can put a brand in crisis in a matter of minutes. Even people who don’t live in the Gulf states may choose to pay a little more to fly with a competitor simply because of Spirit’s insensitivity to those in need.

Sure, I know a PR nightmare can happen to any brand. And I empathize with creative teams who work so hard on a campaign only to have it pulled in the first week because a tragedy or scandal occurs. It happens. But when you create the work after the fact, with the sole intention of capitalizing on someone’s misfortune, that’s where advertising goes wrong. It doesn’t shock people into buying a ticket. It shocks them into avoiding your brand.

High Point, N.C. – (May 26, 2010) – Trone, Inc., a national, full-service marketing agency based in High Point, N.C., recently received three first place awards and three merit awards at the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association’s (TOCA) annual meeting, in Tucson, Arizona. Trone was recognized for its work with Syngenta Lawn & Garden, an industry leader in creating dependable pest management solutions for professional markets.

Trone also won a Best in Show Award in the Video & Multimedia category. The video series titled, “Behind the Brand: Why Formulation Matters”, focused on why branded products make all the difference in turf care. To view the videos, visit www.greencastonline.com/FormulationVideo.

“We strive to provide effective marketing solutions which make an impact on our clients’ target audiences. The work that was honored by TOCA is a great example of how our Unmass the Message approach makes the difference for our clients,” said Doug Barton, managing partner at Trone.

About TOCA

The Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) is composed of editors, writers, publishers, photographers, public relations/advertising practitioners, industry association leaders and others involved in green industry communications. From its beginning in 1989, TOCA has been serving members of the green industry by fostering an open exchange of information regarding issues that affect how we communicate to our various audiences.

About Trone

Headquartered in High Point, N.C., Trone, Inc. is known for its Unmass the Message® approach which uses data to develop powerful insights to form the basis for strong connections between people and brands. Trone offers clients strategic consultation and analytics, media buying and planning, advertising, design, relationship marketing, public relations, interactive, social media and event marketing. The agency is one of the largest independent agencies in the Southeast with nearly 100 employees and $100 million in capitalized billings. For more information on Trone, please visit www.trone.com.

Perhaps you heard about the roller coaster in the UK that got stuck upside down a few weeks ago.  Fortunately for the passengers, they were “only” left hanging for about 20 minutes (I’m sure it felt longer upside down!).

Without a doubt, the economy over the last two years has felt like a very unpleasant roller coaster, and many people have gotten stuck upside down with their investments.  The stock market (which is not a proxy for the economy, though many people use it as such) has been all over the board.  The latest news driving a selloff – the crisis in Greece.  This, of course, drives us all crazy.  We have no control over the market (unless Warren Buffett or George Soros is reading this).  I encourage you to think about your brands in this same investment context.  The major difference being that you can and do have control over the investment in your brands.

Think of your brand as a long term investment.  We’ve all heard to maxim that $5,000 invested in your early  20′s as a lump sum will be worth more upon your retirement than beginning to invest hundreds of dollars a month in your 40′s.  That’s the power of compound interest, and the value of not trying to “time the market.”  Your brand is a long term investment, and you must invest accordingly.  During tumultuous times it’s all too easy  to cut the marketing budget, watch those dollars fall directly to the bottom line, and plan to “catch up” when you can.  However, that’s the real difference between investing in brands and investing in the stock market.  Your investment in your brand is temporal — once the time is gone, it’s gone forever and you can never get it back.  You lose your momentum with your consumers and your customers, not to mention any cuts you may have to make internally.

Take control of your brand, and your future.  Chart the course for your brand, and keep investing.  Those who do will reap the rewards in the long run.

This ad from Pedigree uses the amazing high-frame count technology of the Phantom camera to capture a moment in a way that most pet owners have never seen. It simply and elegantly shows pet owners the anticipation, focus and happiness that pets experience when being fed or given a treat. Notice that there is no voiceover by Pedigree touting the benefits of the food. Or telling the consumer that pets will enjoy it. Pedigree lets the visuals do that. Why? Because that would take the viewer out of the moment. And in a way, they are selling that moment to owners. They take the mundane act of feeding a pet and uncover a whole new side of the story for the owner. Pet owners know that their pets like to be fed.  They know pets wait by a door or paw at a food bowl when hungry. What they undoubtedly have missed out on until this point is witnessing every part of the moment that the dog experiences.  By helping a pet owner understand the subtle, almost human-like reactions a pet has, the ad positions the brand as truly understanding the deep relationship that many pet owners have with their pets.  And even better, Pedigree positions themselves as the brand that brings this reaction out of pets. Of course, not all pet owners would really connect with this moment. But the pet owners that are spending the most on their pets, certainly do.

Last summer I did something I thought I would never do, I stopped subscribing to cable. It wasn’t because I didn’t want it. I just didn’t need it. I had lost my job and it just made good financial sense. So, I’m not going to talk about the evils of TV and how we should all get off our butts and go read and exercise (though it probably wouldn’t hurt). And this isn’t really about finding alternative ways to watch TV programming, although I have done that quite successfully. Cable for me had become a habit, but recently I came to the realization that it really isn’t that great, and I think advertising is to blame.

I recently spent a weekend at the beach with some friends and when we weren’t eating or doing beachy things we did what most people do. We watched some TV. I was a bit excited cause this was cable, and I’ve been without it for 6 months! I watched some sports, awesome. Cable still does this well. But after that I began to skip around to some old favorites. The History Channel. Discovery. Spike, Nat Geo and others. When my wife was around we watched Food Network and HGTV. There was something familiar about the whole experience. All too familiar. We had been away from cable for half a year, but we had seen most everything that was on. And a lot of it we didn’t particularly care for the first time around. This is a testament to two things: 1. How much we used to watch TV and 2. How little programming was actually being produced.

Now to the point. My theory is this: Programming, as we all know, is paid for by advertising. Most advertisers are in search of bigger audiences.  Even if it’s niche they want bigger niche. To deliver this cable channels began to concentrate on creating and consolidating programming that draws a larger super specific audiences all the time. The result is usually a decrease in programming variety, quality, and in some cases quantity.

Cable channels try any and everything out there to draw ratings just like network TV. The difference is when something (anything) works they just simply make more programming like it and it takes over the channel and they marginalize or abandon lower rated stuff.  Then they found out who is watching and market their channel as the Men 18-35 channel, or the women 40+ channel, or whatever it may be.  They don’t stand for anything except what is popular. Advertising is focused less on specific shows and more on specific channels. And since the most coveted audience by an advertiser is a younger crowd, for many (not all) channels the only prerequisite was that it appeal to younger people. Thus we’ve gotten less cerebral, more lowbrow and more homogenous ADD programming from channel 1 to 1000.

In this pursuit channels have often sacrificed their establish brand presence in pursuit of ratings, even if it means changing what they stand for (or simply ignoring it). Most notably may be MTVs departure from Music in the late 80s, but they certainly aren’t the only ones. Despite the channel’s name or implied content they try out most any type of programming. Once a program begins to draw even the slightest bit of ratings more shows like it are produced and the channel becomes known for that type of show. TLC may be the worst offender here. So much so, that I believe they could easily rebranded to be the Sideshow Network.

This tactic works. It draws a specific audience. The problem is that it’s too specific and the programming suffers. The channel looses diversity in it’s programming. Reality programming usually pops up because it’s cheap to produce, but even that is too much to keep up with 24 hours of programming so the same crap just gets recycled. Even worse is that some channels totally loose sight of their initial programming genre in search of ratings, a phenomenon thats come to be known as channel drift. This can really alienate long-time viewers.

Let’s look at the History Channel. I used to love it. It used to feature, well history. But now the majority of the time when you tune in you’ll find reruns of reality shows that have little to nothing to do with history like Ice Road Truckers, Pawn Stars, Ax Men, Monster Quest and other heinous crap. Even before I dropped cable I quit watching it. And I know I’m not the only one that feels that way.

Even if this type of programming model is working right now, which it is, I don’t believe it will be able to sustain itself for much longer. It seems at some point there will be too many channels and the ratings will be so low the cant afford to stay afloat. We’ll start to see cable channels drop off like magazines have. Especially when people start dropping cable for cheaper forms of entertainment via the Internet. Maybe then it will reconsolidate and the diversity of programming and general quality will increase. As for now I see little reason to go back to cable. My only problem is figuring out how I will watch Mad Men this summer. One of the last great things on cable. Ironically a show about advertising.

So what do I watch?

For those interested, I’ve in lieu of cable I have been watching more network TV. I get great HD programming with an antenna. I do miss the DVR, but many shows are available online. We also have a Netflix account and we watch a lot of streaming movies and shows as well as one DVD by mail for $8.99/mo. Occasionally when I want to see something on cable, like sports, I might tune into something on Justin.tv. But that probably isn’t legal. Oh, and I read and exercise a little more.