What’s that sound? It can’t be… Yes it is: that’s me applauding Fox! What the hell is going on here?
Nothing short of the clouds parting in media land…
Fox TV has a long history of upsetting the status quo. At its launch, it gave the finger to the mainstream (as defined by the other networks) and introduced edgier shows such as “The Simpsons,” “In Living Color” and “Married With Children.” Sure, this meant smaller overall audiences than its rivals, but it scored highly with the ever desirable youth market, whom advertisers love.
Now it’s raised eyebrows in the ad world again, this time by insisting on selling fewer ads during select primetime broadcasts (namely, JJ Abrams’ “Fringe” and Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse”). From my perspective as both an ad guy and TV viewer, it’s overdue brilliance.
For advertisers: This reduces the clutter, so that their ads stand out more and generate more recall (the number of viewers who can remember seeing the ad). Ideally, it also means fewer viewers flipping away or skipping commercials on TiVo.
For viewers: This means more actual show (approximately 50 minutes per hour, as opposed to the current 42), fewer interruptions and overall less advertising. Since advertisers will have to pay more per spot, it will also hopefully inspire the agencies to produce better ads. Why blow all that media-buying money on weak creative?
It’s a move many of my colleagues in advertising have been recommending for years — ad clutter benefits no one. But for this to happen, it took viewer migration to the Internet, TiVo teaching people how to skip commercials, and Fox’s ad sales president being assaulted by commercials while watching a workout-room TV. (Don’t you wish more TV executives would actually watch TV?)
My only question: Why stop there? As a football fan, I’d love to see the same reduction applied to games, where it seems a commercial is inserted between every other play. Seriously, do we need commercial breaks before and after kickoffs?
“There are many methods for predicting the future. For example, you can read horoscopes, tea leaves, tarot cards, or crystal balls. Collectively, these methods are known as ‘nutty methods.’ Or you can put well-researched facts into sophisticated computer models, more commonly referred to as ‘a complete waste of time.’” — Scott Adams, The Dilbert Future
I recently attended a meeting at one of the world’s largest PR agencies. In the midst of a luxurious high-tech conference room featuring an HDTV and a tower of high-quality donuts, the agency told its client — an Internet start-up — that it needed to conduct more research. The client was visibly shocked…
So I’m thumbing through my favorite geek magazine, Wired, when I’m suddenly confronted by this Belvedere Vodka ad that features a woman applying lipstick in the reflection of a belt buckle. (If any of my female readers have ever executed such a task, please let me know… What? None of you have? Gee, what a surprise…) With Freudian symbol in hand, she’s got that deer-ho in the headlights look. Not exactly what you expect to find in Wired amidst ads for Zune, Casio and the Discovery Channel. (Hey, have we got a discovery for you…)
I’m all for creative media placement, and I reckon VC-funded geeks drink expensive vodka and fantasize about women crouching down and, um, touching up their lips. But this seems way out of character for an upscale liquor brand. And I’m not sure how this image relates to the tagline “Luxury Reborn,” unless what constitutes “luxury” has taken one hell of a dive… Read more »
“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” — Abraham Lincoln
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” — George W. Bush
Phineas Taylor Barnum was the consummate 19th Century showman and one deceptive bastard…
If you lust after automobiles like I do, then the one writer you need - yes, NEED - to read is Dan Neil of the L.A. Times.
Now, if you’re more of the century 21.0 “printed words scare me” generation, there’s always the video option:
But the place to savor Neil at his red-line, high-octane best is in print. After all, how many other car critics do you know have a master’s degree in English lit and, more significantly, a Pulitzer Prize?
The liberal blog Daily Kos just unleashed a scathing and hilarious spoof of the “uproar” around Barack Obama’s supposed “elitism.” It perfectly captures the pathetic state of American journalism, where “freedom of the press” has become “freedom to act like squirrel monkeys.”
He sits there before his microphone, round and retro, emanating the cuteness that made him an icon in America. On this occasion, he’s in somber black, though he’s usually seen decked out like a jelly bean. And then he speaks…
“… While the internet is new and exciting for creative people, it hasn’t matured as a distribution mechanism… It will be a few years before digital distribution of media on the Internet can be monetized to an extent that necessitates content producers to forgo their fair value in more traditional media…” - Kyle, South Park
I know, I shouldn’t be quoting cartoon characters as proof of anything, but sometimes the greatest truth is found in satire. And the April 2 episode of South Park, “Canada on Strike,” is satire at its best, skewering everyone from the Writers Guild of America to Denmark to the stars of YouTube… Read more »
According to the New York Times, three prominent bloggers suffered serious heart attacks in the past five months — Russell Shaw, Marc Orchant, and Om Malik — with Shaw and Orchant going to that big blogosphere in the sky. (May you have infinite comments and pingbacks for all eternity.)
American Apparel CEO Dov Charney acts like he’s missing his calling. The controversial and flamboyant entrepreneur could parlay his promotional genius and predilection for the prurient to become one hell of a porn producer. (The San Fernando Valley, the porn capital of the world, is just over the hill from American Apparel’s headquarters.) It would certainly suit his notorious lifestyle…
I got an invite to your “Psychology Marketing Project” on Facebook. (Note: Facebook has since removed this “Project.” Too bad.) And as someone who professionally conducts and teaches marketing I have to hand it to you: pretty damn clever…
One company’s tumble is another company’s primo opportunity — if that opportunity is approached creatively. Here’s a brilliant example from this week’s business pages…
So I’m hanging out at this bar, but there’s no one around — no bartender, no waitress, no other patrons. Everything behind me is fuzzy, but I have the power to change the way I look at the touch of a button…
A strange burrito induced dream? No, that’s the scenario at SportsBLOX.com, a new virtual world run by one of my former MBA classmates.
“In this very real world, good doesn’t drive out evil. Evil doesn’t drive out good. But the energetic displaces the passive.” — Bill Bernbach, advertising legend
Last week I spoke on a panel at the National Broadcasting Society AERho Convention, addressing a group of college students about careers in the media. We were in the heart of the Disneyland Resort, amidst thousands of tourists wearing Mickey Mouse ears and celebrating America’s greatest media brand. It was the perfect place to discuss the future of media and how these aspiring young professionals could rule it. It also was a great demo of the difference between old school and new school mentalities…
The first season of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” wrapped up last week. (If you missed any of it, Fox offers entire episodes on its rich multimedia promo site.) T-tv did fulfill its mission of entertaining young males (and, ahem, some middle-aged ones) during Monday Night Football’s cruel hiatus. But it left far too many questions — and I’m not talking about what will happen next season…
Video site Stage6 got the deep-six and called it quits. This comes on the heels of the fire sale at Revver, which ultimately sold for $5 million — less than half of the original investment that was pumped into it. But these weren’t the first signs of an industry decimation…
Just thought I’d dash off a quick note to put a few recent media-business items in perspective. The first one you’ve heard about extensively; you might find these others somewhat amusing…
Microsoft’s offer for Yahoo!: $44.6 billion
Oil company Exxon’s profit for just the 4th quarter of 2007:$11.7 billion
State of California’s budget deficit: $14.6 billion
Purchase price of HotOrNot, the online dating & rating service, as reported by TechCrunch: $20 million
HotOrNot’s annual revenue: $5 million
Budget for the movie “Cloverfield”: $25 million
“Cloverfield” box office gross for just its first four weeks: $76 million
Total investment received by video site Revver.com: $12.7 million
Debt currently owed by Revver.com: $1 million
Asking price to purchase all of Revver.com (and to assume its debt): $300,000-$500,000
And you thought the real estate market was irrational?
During the South Carolina Democratic debate, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were roundly criticized for attacking each other instead of addressing the issues. I, too, was initially irked by their misbehavior — but then it occurred to me that this was classic marketing strategy in action…
I love checking my blog stats, not just the raw numbers of views, but also such info as where my traffic is coming from. That’s how I discovered that my article on Wal-Mart had been cited by the Wall Street Journal. Woohoo — I’ve got Street cred!
I’m most intrigued by the search-engine terms that lead to Cool Rules Pronto. Who Googled “Freddy Nager blog”? And why is somebody researching “Spicoli origin”?
Here’s the key factoid I learned from looking at these search-engine terms: name dropping works….
“We live in a time when people are losing confidence in the ability of government to solve problems… Wal-Mart does not wait for someone else to solve problems.”
- Wal-Mart Stores CEO H. Lee Scott Jr.
As a Samuel Adams drinker and stockholder, I don’t partake in Budweiser’s anemic brew, but I’ve always loved their brilliant, often hilarious marketing. Until now…
I thought I had left gambling behind in Vegas, but when I got home to L.A., I found TWO letters from companies offering me extended warranties on products I bought last year. One was from my favorite technolust provider, Apple, offering to extend the warranty on my MacBook for three years for $249. Like most Apple creations, the pitch was good, using terms like “peace of mind” (in bright red letters at the top) and “protect your investment.” The only things missing were the free drinks as I laid my bet…
I recently attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, and it’s true, you can’t spell “excess” without CES. After traversing an area the size of Rhode Island brimming with gadgetry, blissed-out geeks, and scantily clad spokesmodels uttering words they didn’t understand, I have but two regrets…
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
- Steve Jobs
There’s nothing I love more than creative projects with talented people. I don’t even need a major role. In my first play in L.A., all my character did was glare at people and laugh. I didn’t get paid, nor did I have much stage time, but I had a complete blast…
Frankenstein created a monster. And advertisers created the banner ad. Fortunately, advertisers can still fix their hideous beast before it gets totally toasted by us villagers…
So I’m thumbing through the latest issue of Wired magazine (which, by the way, features a brilliant article on the music industry by David Byrne) when I come across an attractive painting of beer. (What’s not to like?) As a huge fan of microbrews, I stop thumbing and say “talk to me!” but the only words in the ad are the name of the beer and the tagline “Artfully Crafted.” And the first thing that pops in my mind is not a desire to quaff the brew, but a distinct sense of disappointment: “What a waste!”
“I’m so full of action, my name should be a verb.”
- Big Daddy Kane
While doing the consulting thing in Silicon Valley, I met far too many execs and entrepreneurs who said that marketing was not necessary. “Just look at Google,” they’d tell me with smug grins. True, Google never spent a dollar on advertising their product, but they did invest time and imagination into creating wicked strategies. Let’s look how Google came to rule the search universe and, eventually, the world…
“If we don’t get some cool rules pronto, we’ll be bogus, too!”
– Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli, Fast Times at Ridgemont High
It was one of those seminal Big Bang moments in pop culture: a single work that launched careers and trends while capturing the ‘tude of a whole generation. The 1982 film Fast Times At Ridgemont High featured Sean Penn in a breakout role that spawned hundreds of Hollywood slackers, from Bill & Ted, to Beavis & Butthead, to most of the characters in Jud Apatow’s recent movies. Penn’s Jeff Spicoli wore checkerboard Vans sneakers, turning them into instant icons. And the screenplay was written by Cameron Crowe, who went on to write and direct other culture shaping films, including Say Anything and Jerry Maguire. With all the pieces in place, Fast Times was crude, adolescent, shallow, and pure creative genius.
Now, a quarter-of-a-century later, I’ve created this marketing-and-media blog named after the film’s most quotable line, which is a joint-production of both Crowe and Penn. Crowe’s original script reads, “If we don’t come up with some cool rules ourself…”; Penn then swaps in the oh-so-critical “pronto” for “ourself,” demonstrating the inestimable value of a single word.
My goal with this blog is to promote other acts of pure inspiration in an increasingly cluttered mediascape, with a focus on advertising and marketing. The marketspace is currently enjoying new works of genius by the likes of GEICO, Apple and ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. At the same time, we’re enduring senseless acts of bogusness perpetrated by the likes of Wal-Mart, my beloved Democratic Party (sigh), and most of the so-called marketing execs in Silicon Valley.
I will be brutally critical, I will be tongue in cheek, I will be anything but professional in my search for other “cool rules” in marketing and media. Note that these are not “best practices,” to be followed or imitated; they are simply examples of brilliance that will hopefully inspire more seminal Big Bang moments in pop culture. While we can’t all be as culturally influential as Jeff Spicoli and the rest of the Fast Times crew, we should at least give it one hell of a shot… pronto.
Freddy J. Nager is the Founder & Fusion Director of the creative strategy agency Atomic Tango. For Cool Rules Pronto, he draws on insights attained from two decades of experience in advertising and entertainment, including over a dozen years in new media. He’s created marketing campaigns and projects for Saatchi & Saatchi, Toyota, National Lampoon, Nissan & Infiniti, MCA Records, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, the NFL on Fox and numerous start-ups. Freddy holds a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from USC (go Trojans!), and currently teaches marketing through the University of Wales/Robert Kennedy College. He also wrote the satirical book, Claw Your Way To The Top: Ten Things I Learned About Business From My Cat, which he’ll get around to marketing someday.
“… While the internet is new and exciting for creative people, it hasn’t matured as a distribution mechanism… It will be a few years before digital distribution of media on the Internet can be monetized to an extent that necessitates content producers to forgo their fair value in more traditional media…” - Kyle, South Park
Dear Monica Rockle:
One company’s tumble is another company’s primo opportunity — if that opportunity is approached creatively. Here’s a brilliant example from this week’s business pages…
So I’m hanging out at this bar, but there’s no one around — no bartender, no waitress, no other patrons. Everything behind me is fuzzy, but I have the power to change the way I look at the touch of a button…
Video site Stage6 got the deep-six and called it quits
