Monday, June 29, 2009

Reasons for Reasons

5 reasons for writing a list of reasons

1. There's not a lot of writing (but, hopefully, a lot of thinking).

2. It's easy to read if people don't have a lot of time.

3. Your opinion/advice can help someone.

4. You can promote yourself or your company without promoting yourself or your company.

5. In your research/thinking you may come up with an idea that you can use.

Requiem for a Pitch Man

Billy Mays is dead. The brash, loud television pitchman was found dead by his wife in his home yesterday morning. Billy certainly wasn't a cultural icon the way Michael Jackson was or even Farrah Fawcett. Nor was he a television staple as long as Ed McMahon who with his boss Johnny Carson was part of what may arguably be thought of as the most famous 2 shot in the history of TV. No, Billy was just a guy promoting Orange Glo and OxiClean on commercials. And yet, I feel really sad that we won't be seeing him anymore (unless his estate has the ghoulish idea of continuing to run his spots). For one thing, I really didn't mind the intrusion Billy made on my television viewing because he was just plain entertaining. He was a hawker who didn't make any pretence that he was trying to get you to buy his product and got in your face to do so. In many ways, he was a throw back to the old informercial stars of yesteryear (Ron Popeil must be shedding a tear) but in Billy's case, he was saying this is my style, I don't care if I'm too loud because I really believe in the products I sell. (One of the funny stories I read in one of his obituaries is that he gave all the guests at his wedding samples of OxiClean and did his pitch on the dance floor). This was a guy who loved what he did for a living. And if he really didn't, then he was a better actor than we can give him credit for. Billy Mays was as everyman as you can get, an anti-star and yet an icon in his own way for advertising and I'll miss his over the top 30 seconds of hawking.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Hats off to Zugara

Waiting for a client to give you a project is nuts. It's far better business sense to create your own platforms that a client will by dying to get in on if they solve an immediate problem in an exciting way. I really admire what the people at Zugara have done by creating an application called the Webcam Social Shopper that uses augmented reality and motion capture so people can try on clothes virtually, using their webcams and a print-out marker. It's a great idea and from viewing their video demo, it looks like a cool experience. While this doesn't seem to be created for a specific client, I could see how this would pique the interest of a multitude of apparel companies who sell online. And the idea of creating a need where there was none before is a great way to get business.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

And the winner is?


Awards seem to be very important in our industry. As I write this, the ad industry is abuzz with news of the Cannes festival. Everyone likes to get recognition for the hard work they put into a project. Lots of companies publicize their honors in their marketing and new business efforts and Firstborn is no different. A recent article in Ad Age pointed to the fact that some agencies spend tons of money on their awards submissions. Then why do some people think awards shouldn’t matter so much? Should the focus be on doing great work for your client no matter how you think it’ll do if you enter it into a competition? Is it all a bunch of smoke and mirrors? Do clients really care? As long as it matters to the marketing and advertising world it seems that you’re left behind if you don’t follow the herd and toot your own hardware.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Twitter & Hugging

Last night the good folks at Rackspace invited me to sit on a panel at an event they held at the New York Stock Exchange for some of their agency clients of which Firstborn is one. The discussion focused on social media and Twitter in particular and I was asked towards the end of the evening whether I thought these networks could be monetized by companies. It got me thinking about a wonderful tweet I read the other day by Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos who I follow on Twitter.

Twittering is like hugging. Just because it's hard to measure the return on investment doesn't mean there isn't value there.


That statement struck a chord with me since the work that we do at Firstborn largely has to do with user engagement rather than raw commerce. Sure, the projects we create are implemented with detailed metrics and we're able to see incredibly large amount of time spent which is one indicator of success but is this enough? Getting back to Tony's quote, I think it's going to require a change in mind set of marketers about how they measure ROI and be comfortable about other bench marks that add to brand equity. After all, will Twitter be ever used to directly sell products or services in an e-commerce model? Probably not. So we should all get used to the fact that the social media are more of an indirect sales tool whose monetization must be thought of in new ways.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Discovery Channels


5 Reasons Why a Discovery Phase Makes Sense:

1. The scope of work hasn’t been defined. A thorough discovery phase will allow you to establish the business, creative and technical requirements of the project.

2. You’re engaged with the client sooner. If the project’s scope hasn’t been established in detail, signing an agreement for discovery allows you to start the relationship rather than having to wait for someone to figure it all out.

3. It’s a great way to become immersed with the brand. You’re way ahead of the game if you can become an expert in the client’s business.

4. You can test the waters to see if this is a client you want to work with. A discovery phase is limited to a relatively short period of time so you’re not committed if you need to bail. Likewise, the client can see how wonderful you are to work with.

5. You may discover other business problems that need to be solved and hence, more potential work for your company.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Buzz Off


Ours is an industry that just loves its buzz words. So, boys and girls, let's look at some of these bon mots and how they've been used to the point where they have no meaning.

Viral. As in "we want to do a viral campaign". Is there any successful campaign that can't be considered viral? Does viral just mean a funny video on the web? A micro-site that lots of people go to? An app that gets sent around? Can't traditional old school television commercials be considered viral e.g. "Where's the beef?" and "I can't believe I ate the whole thing" if people tell their friends about them? How about a print ad that someone cuts out of a magazine and passes on to a friend? All of the above or none of the above? If you're trying to be viral, chances are you'll fail anyway if you don't have a good enough idea that people will want to tell other people about. So let's please retire the use of the word viral.

Stickiness. Is sticky having people come back to your site on a regular basis? Does that mean that a website isn't successful if people only visit it once? What if they engage with the brand for over 10 minutes and then never come back? Is that then a measure of failure? Of course not! No more stickiness.

Synergy. I think I knew what this word meant but I admit having heard it thrown around so much I had to look at Merriam-Webster to get the official definition. Okay, so it means participants or elements coming together to achieve a common goal. (I think.) Question for you buzz-worders out there: is there any initiative in which you want disharmony and disunity amongst participants whether they're creators or audience? There was definitely a lack of synergy when the Confederates fired on Fort Sumter to start the U.S. Civil War.

Nimble. This one is bandied about when comparing how small companies operate versus larger ones and I have to admit that I've used this one in the past when talking about Firstborn. Is there a salesman out there who wants to present their company as being bloated, lethargic and slow to move? So let's use some other adjectives instead of nimble from now on.

Low hanging fruit. For some reason, this conjures up some bizarre images in my head but perhaps that's the result of my childhood. Fruit is fruit. Sales is sales. Opportunities are opportunities. Low, high and everywhere in between.

Social networking. I'm treading on a minefield by including this one in my list since it's the red hot topic du jour in marketing and advertising. Isn't every medium social in some way or another? Did we just invent the transmission of ideas in a social way? You could argue that when Guttenberg created his printing press he was creating a bit of social networking. I'm not denying the importance of this phenomenon in our modern culture but it's time we stop throwing it around whenever we talk about communication.

So if you're looking for some long hanging fruit that's a sticky, nimble viral campaign with synergy and social networking please keep it to yourself.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Mmm...donuts...


Today is National Donuts Day. Who knew? To commemorate this sacred holiday, Dunkin Donuts is giving out a free donut of your choice with each beverage you purchase. According to Dunkin Donuts' Brand Marketing Officer Frances Allen, "We hope our free donut offer will create an opportunity for people to celebrate donuts and bring some extra happiness to their day. "

CaT Conference

I really enjoyed attending the recent Creativity and Technology conference (CaT) sponsored by Creativity Magazine. Not only did I get to see clients I haven't talked to in a while and make some new connections but I learned a lot about the different ways technology is being used to tell brand stories.

Some highlights for me included a presentation by Nick Bilton and Derek Gottfrid who are technologists at the New York Times. They discussed how the Times has opened up a number of API's to outside developers who have created some interesting applications. For example, one app called Watch Instantly ties in Netflix with the Times movie reviewers' top picks. I think the way they're focusing on Times readers more as users rather than readers is a very clever and helpful way to drive traffic to the Times website.

And, of course, Firstborn's own Dan LaCivita was on a panel moderated by Nick Parish of Creativity with Winston Binch of Crispin Porter and Daniel Illic of North Kingdom. Each participant walked the audience through some recent work and how each company has used technology to communicate ideas. Dan showed the Puma project we did for Droga5 and how we combined live action video with 3-D elements. Seeing our work presented to an audience really reminds me just how cool and innovative the work is coming from Firstborn and our top competitors.

Bad Research

At Firstborn, we've never been a big advocate of focus groups and this is a good example why.

Monday, June 1, 2009

7 elements every proposal should have

1. Make sure the layout conveys the level of professionalism the client will get if they hire your company for the job but the design should never get in the way of the information. At the end of the day this is a business document.

2. Less is more when it comes to text. Let’s face it, the first page people turn to is the pricing. People shouldn’t have to wade through paragraph upon paragraph of copy which no one reads anyway.

3. Save selling for the cover letter. The pitch in your proposal consists of your solution to the problem you’ve been ask to solve so no need to lay on the superlatives about how great your company is.

4. Let them know who will work on the project. Meeting the principals of the company at initial meetings is crucial but letting the client know exactly who’ll be on their project team will add to their comfort zone.

5. Make sure you answer the question: what makes your approach to this project unique from your competitors? Just regurgitating what the client has written in the RFP won’t get you very far and since you’re most likely vying for the business against other companies, you need to make a splash.

6. Having multiple people write different sections of a proposal is fine and necessary in most cases but when you’re ready to put it all together during the final polish make sure the document speaks to the reader with a consistent voice.

7. Give them more than they ask for. A little extra can go a long way to telling the prospective client that you really want to win this business.