What Client Dollars Net At The Big Ad Agencies

Most evenings when I put the 24/7 work flow on hold, I sit back and click through the cable nets to grab some programming where I really don’t have to think.  

I end up on networks that run the spectrum from SPIKE, TLC, HGTV, USA, History Chanel, Discovery, ESPN and TBS.

Oh, I must admit that I do watch a good share of the news networks too.  I click back and forth between CNN, Bloomberg, HLN, FOX and FOX Business.

What amazes me the most are the broadcast commercials that run between the programming.

I even have a small framed quote up in the television cabinet that reads, “Remember, if they were all sane, the psychs would not have a job.”

I’ve voiced concerns about the Progressive Insurance ads in the past.  Flo was created by Arnold Worldwide.  Since 2010 when Progressive premiered Flo, they have produced 100+ commercials.

100+ commercials in about a five year time period.

Arnold Worldwide is based in Boston.  When you check out their website, you will see quickly that those Progressive ads are not likely produced for $50k.  Probably add at least one more digital point to that price figure.

The Progressive ad I saw last night was all about Flo.  It wasn’t until the logo came up on the screen at the very end of the spot that you realize its Progressive Insurance that the spot is attempting to sell.

Already this morning I went out and spoke to some Millennials as they were ordering their custom made Starbucks coffee.  I asked them if they had ever heard of Progressive Insurance Company and only one out of the 10 said yes.  When I asked if they had ever seen a character named Flo in any commercials, six of the 10 said yes. 

They went on to describe her as this character with “big hair that dresses mostly in white.”

 BTW… there’s some rumors out there that Progressive is replacing Flo with the animated insurance box.

I guess if I worked 24/7 dealing with insurance sales and claims, I would seek out something entertaining to break the doldrums. 

 

There’s another ad series that Chevy is running that showcases participants in a focus group with a facilitator.

In the first ad to premiere, the setting was actually a tad realistic in how it showed the facilitator revealing Chevy models.  Then came the second ad.  And now has come the third one this past week.   At least the third one in the series that I have seen.

The last time I did a conventional focus group was about ten years ago for a hospital.  It was the hospital marketing team that insisted we do a conventional focus group, randomly recruited and one in which they – the client – could sit behind the one way mirror and observe the discussion flow.

Big time corporate clients have long time been strong supporters of doing focus groups.  Not too sure that they fully understand the dynamics of the discussion, but they love the wine, mix drinks, shrimp cocktails and French pastries provided behind the one way mirror.

Back in 2003 when I started EXPERIENCE, I decided that it was way over time to create an alternative to the high cost, “pecking order” conversational flow of conventional focus groups.

They got to be expensive and contrived. 

Today, we do Coffee House and Pub Chats, On-the-Street experiential interviews, hosted neighborhood networking and online chat rooms and commentary boards.

Part of me is okay with the McCann creatives making fun of focus groups and using them as the commercial backdrop.  There’s another part of me that finds the use of focus groups by the corporations to be rather disturbing. 

In the third ad that I saw the other night, the facilitator is actually rattling the sales pitch.  If an EXPERIENCE staff member ever did that in any of the tools we use today, they would not be a part of the EXPERIENCE team long. 

I looked up the Nielsen PRIZM lifestyle groups that Chevy scores high on in ownership and sales. 

Here are the top PRIZM groups and their nicknames… “Kid Country USA,” “Campers & Camo,” Pickup Patriarchs,” “Toolbelt Traditionalists” and “Young and Rustic.” 

My bet is that these folks actually believe that they are watch a real live focus group when they watch those Chevy commercials.

Then last night I saw an ad that I still cannot figure out what was the product and brand behind it.

It opened with an office in a city-setting like New York with techies working at their computer pods.  The people quickly changed into animated human-like animals and as they were doing so, quick snippets of social media dialogue pop up on the screen, but the graphics are so small you really cannot read the text exchange. 

As the spot progresses, the focus shifts to the guys and gals that evolved into lion-like creatures and they appear to invent a quasi-digital umbrella that they send out of their 15^th floor office window and converts into umbrellas carried by the folks walking on the street below.

Ad the end of the spot a website address.  Part of me wants to say that a brand name like Slacker appears.

To be honest… when you read what I just wrote, it sounds like I was on my third round of bourbon plus toking for the night. 

I was not involved in anything like that when I saw the ad, but my hunch is that the ad team probably was when they created it.

No question, the ad was not cheap to produce.

Will be interesting to see if the ads pop up in the next few days.  If they do, I will write down just who the ad is suppose to be promoting and share it with blog readers.

NOTE:  Found out... the ad is for #Slack, which I still have no idea what they do.  Here is a link to their ads and an article about them... http://techcrunch.com/2015/12/30/slacks-new-tv-commercial-is-adorable-and-effective/  ... LOL... some techie brand.

This past week, I had lunch with a couple ad agency owners.  They run medium to smaller size shops.  They told me that they were laying off more creative staff and shifting over to building client teams with free-lancers. 

I quickly asked if cost was the driver… and they quickly admitted that overhead costs did play a partial role.

However, they added that free-lance teams could be kept fresh and that the product produced would not fall into the conventional ruts and commercials that seem to live in their own little worlds. 

I could not agree more.