In about an hour from now, I am going to be meeting with a group that recently purchased a television station.
They are not a network affiliate. And in some ways, that’s cool.
I am not sure that if I won the Lottery this week that I would take the dollars and invest in a television station.
Don’t get me wrong… folks today still enjoy watching programming.
Shoot, it could be on their television, their PC, their portable video player, their iPhone or even a panel on their dashboard.
It could be transmitted live or playing from some source of stored programming.
No joke… I actually spend many a primetime viewing hour cruising through YouTube and with an average of 55,000 new videos launched on the site launch just that day. Needless to say, the choice is rather diverse.
Yesterday, I had an interesting discussion with my cable provider.
When I had called about why the monthly fee was going up, the rep I was speaking to quickly told me that in about three months, they will be offering their customers the option to select any 10 or 20 stations of choice for a reduced monthly fee.
That’s cool. Will be interesting to see how this new form of packaging will affect how the ratings will be calculated and how the advertising will be sold.
And while I am really not sure if I will include any of the original three nets (ABC, NBC & CBS) in my selected set of stations of choice, the main focus of this week’s blog-logue actually evolves around these three nets.
I strongly encourage any one reading this to take a day off from the work routine and turn on the tube around 11am and watch the programming through the afternoon.
While the programming is certainly an anthropological window into a culture set… the advertising is even better yet.
Something tells me that there’s a large inventory of daytime television that the ad reps have to unload. There’s a whole set of the ads you will see that I would wager to bet were scripted and filmed by the station affiliate.
There’s another set of ads in which the ad director and/or the media rep purchased one of those cost-savings/extra value frequency schedules. That terminology is actually fancy wording for what’s really called ROS… or run of station.
The best commercials are the ones that are truly targeting the regular audience groups that actually watch the daytime programming.
There’s a set of ads promoting the lawyers. Their copy lines are rather similar. They also all showcase a picture of the lawyers in the spots. It’s odd, but nearly all of the lawyers are men.
There’s a set of ads promoting places where you can go and get cash for your car title. It’s interesting how so many of the people in the ads who cash in their car titles are really wearing nice clothes. Maybe it’s that belief that seems to float among advertising agencies that lots of people aspire to be better looking than they really are.
There’s a bunch of ads for old people things. Things like wheel chairs, hearing aids, reading glasses, diabetes monitors, inconsonance padding and emergency alert devices. Now I know that there are others using these that may not be old, but so many of the folks in the ads are old.
Yes…there are pharmaceutical ads too, but from what I saw, there just didn’t seem to be as many as you see during the 6pm news. Maybe the ad agency for those pharma's has insight that most of those older folks watching the news at night are in the midst of taking there afternoon nap during daytime programming.
From my perspective of working with some of the cable nets, there's always a desire among the programmers to work on prime time programming.
Yet… there is actually three times as much of a time block to fill with daytime programming as there is with prime time programming.
When you look at the ratings numbers, these daytime programs don't generate the high double-digit ratings…but then again, very few shows in prime time generate double digit rating any more.
I did go into our mostly recently released Nielsen numbers along with our lifestyle groups and it looks like daytime network television is still popular with groups bearing the nicknames of “Country Music & Car Seats,” “Traditional Seniors,” “Main Street Patriots” and “Struggling Elders.”
Maybe the advertisers running the ads are actually right on target.
The interesting aspect is that I also flipped through the dial (how Boomer is that phrase?!) and watched some of the programming on ESPN2, HGTV, Travel Channel and Food Network.
First of all… the programming on the cable nets wasn’t all too different from the same programming that airs during prime time at night
Second…I didn’t see many…actually if any…of those same advertisers running the ads on the nets…on the cable stations.
(Break… now have to go to the meeting… but will pick back up afterwards with the blog-logue)
I was very enlightened from our meeting with the television station team with whom we met.
They have a vision in their mindset of who they ultimately want to be. I must say that it is progressive, but interesting.
The journey of getting there may not be easy.
There is no question that if they do some things that need to be done, some of their colleagues will label them as industry heretics.
I remember when I started in the business; there was a guy down in Atlanta who just started up a cable network that was the talk of the town.
Many thought he was a nut case.
Later in my career, I actually had the opportunity to work for this guy. One day in a meeting he started talking about doing something I though was a very crazy thing to do.
I learned quickly that he was right on target with his thinking when I thought about it later that afternoon.
The guy starting that network was Ted Turner.
The network was CNN.
Some still think he is a crazy man. And they may actually be right.
But it is that type of thinking that generated what the three core networks have become today and what launched the cable nets that make up my top 10.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
The BrandVenture Trendcast Is Right Again!
Too bad there wasn’t a cash bet riding on the predictions.
Really.
I’d be cashing in like I had just won the lottery.
Two of my predictions were right on target… right smack on target.
One was part of my 2007 BrandVenture Trendcast.
It was titled “Home Repo. You Can Do It, We Don’t Care.”
It was a prediction that the real estate market would not be down long and the driver of the rebound would be the Millennials who were shortly entering into the first time home-buyers market.
The current issue of Business Week has an article running titled “A Trickle Of Hope For Housing.”
And early on it says… “For the first time since 2004, sales of existing homes have risen for three straight months and at the same time, the inventory of unsold homes has decreased.”
It then showcases Angie Hunter and her husband Craig. They are both in their early 30s and Craig is on active duty with the air force based out of Las Vegas.
As first time homebuyers, the two snatched up a 4-bedroom ranch in a gated community. They got it for $204,000 – nearly half of the $400,000 the previous owners paid for it back in 2005.
Have builders gotten smart yet? … Well I can’t say too much about the locals and the small independent builders.
Case in point… this past weekend, the Athens daily rag newspaper (Athens Banner-Herald) showcased in their Sunday real estate magazine, a planned real estate development that would have a shopping area, a work-from-home office community, coffeehouses and restaurants and a clubhouse complete with pool and tennis courts.
The houses were probably initially listed in the $400K+ range.
Sound familiar?
Our Athens daily rag set off the story with a tight-cropped picture of the three cluster houses and a second tight-cropped picture of an historic estate home.
Problem is those houses were the only ones built and standing in a vast acreage of vacant lots complete with tall weeds.
Oh and as far as the shopping, offices and country club are concerned; something tells me that it may be a looooonnnnggg time before those enter the amenities experience… if ever.
Hard to believe, but KB Homes has gotten smart.
As the Business Week article states: “To cut its construction costs and make its homes affordable to a broader pool of buyers, KB reengineered how it builds.”
A major share of the homes is built pre-fab and they have revised the floor plans to be smaller and more adapted to flexible use of the Millennial Mindset.
Get this… The company reported a 60% increase in new home orders in second quarter of this year and has orders now for 3,800 homes.
It’s the Millennials folks… and actually just the very first wave of it!
Wachovia is both my personal bank and also the bank for BrandVenture. Bank of America is the Bank that holds both of my homes’ mortgage loans. Both of those banks are barely breathing through the rising waters of foreclosures.
Hard to believe, but a credit union in North Carolina called the North Carolina State Employees’ Credit Union has gotten smart.
The Credit Union execs are expected to write a record $2.5 billion in new mortgages this year. Oh yeah… here’s a stat for you to catch… only 0.5% of the loans the Credit Union has written to date are more than 90 days past due.
How are they doing it?
They are meeting in person with every one who applies for a mortgage loan and “painstakingly build a household budget that determines what the borrower can really afford.”
And if the homeowner falls behind on payments, they grant brief 30-day extensions and also send out a loan rep to help the borrower put together a new budget.
In some ways, they take on the role of the parent.
I think that Credit Union understands what personal banking and what the new Millennial Generation first time homebuyer is all about.
So by now, you are probably wondering what was the second prediction that was right on target… right?
Well… back last summer I talked about how the Democrats were cashing in at the moment on the new Millennial voter block. Also in that Blog-logue, I said that the loyalty – or better put – the interest level – would not last.
Why? Not because they would debate the issues, but more basically, the Millennials are well known to be ADHD (remember that they are the ones that birthed the whole Ritalin craze of the 90s).
Simple terms… in a couple months, something else would be grabbing their attention and Obama would be “old news.”
As Cal Thomas who writes for USA Today noted in an editorial on Sunday…
“Obama’s people thought the youthful enthusiasm of the presidential campaign could be transformed into an army that would roll over opposition to its policy initiatives. So far, that army has been AWOL.”
So much so AMOL, just look around and ask how many folks in their 20s have you seen recently at any of the Healthcare rallies – pro or con?
I am not kidding one bit when I tell you this past week I saw some UGA freshmen replacing their Obama stickers with Wii stickers.
Now your probably asking … while this is all interesting, what does this have to do with my job to sell our brand and generate sales… I don’t work in the housing industry nor the banking industry nor do I work for Wii.
And that answer is simple.
The Millennials are no longer coming…they are here… BIG TIME.
And the models of the past in terms of how people think, how they view reality, what they perceive as reality and how you grab their attention and build equity has all changed.
A couple of brands are getting it.
And a few of the trend folks too!
Get ready… because the BrandVenture 2010 Trendcast is getting posted on our Website on September 28, 2009.
Call me at 404.245.9378 and book a presentation for your brand team!
Hey... we are sometimes telling you something that is right on target...
Really.
I’d be cashing in like I had just won the lottery.
Two of my predictions were right on target… right smack on target.
One was part of my 2007 BrandVenture Trendcast.
It was titled “Home Repo. You Can Do It, We Don’t Care.”
It was a prediction that the real estate market would not be down long and the driver of the rebound would be the Millennials who were shortly entering into the first time home-buyers market.
The current issue of Business Week has an article running titled “A Trickle Of Hope For Housing.”
And early on it says… “For the first time since 2004, sales of existing homes have risen for three straight months and at the same time, the inventory of unsold homes has decreased.”
It then showcases Angie Hunter and her husband Craig. They are both in their early 30s and Craig is on active duty with the air force based out of Las Vegas.
As first time homebuyers, the two snatched up a 4-bedroom ranch in a gated community. They got it for $204,000 – nearly half of the $400,000 the previous owners paid for it back in 2005.
Have builders gotten smart yet? … Well I can’t say too much about the locals and the small independent builders.
Case in point… this past weekend, the Athens daily rag newspaper (Athens Banner-Herald) showcased in their Sunday real estate magazine, a planned real estate development that would have a shopping area, a work-from-home office community, coffeehouses and restaurants and a clubhouse complete with pool and tennis courts.
The houses were probably initially listed in the $400K+ range.
Sound familiar?
Our Athens daily rag set off the story with a tight-cropped picture of the three cluster houses and a second tight-cropped picture of an historic estate home.
Problem is those houses were the only ones built and standing in a vast acreage of vacant lots complete with tall weeds.
Oh and as far as the shopping, offices and country club are concerned; something tells me that it may be a looooonnnnggg time before those enter the amenities experience… if ever.
Hard to believe, but KB Homes has gotten smart.
As the Business Week article states: “To cut its construction costs and make its homes affordable to a broader pool of buyers, KB reengineered how it builds.”
A major share of the homes is built pre-fab and they have revised the floor plans to be smaller and more adapted to flexible use of the Millennial Mindset.
Get this… The company reported a 60% increase in new home orders in second quarter of this year and has orders now for 3,800 homes.
It’s the Millennials folks… and actually just the very first wave of it!
Wachovia is both my personal bank and also the bank for BrandVenture. Bank of America is the Bank that holds both of my homes’ mortgage loans. Both of those banks are barely breathing through the rising waters of foreclosures.
Hard to believe, but a credit union in North Carolina called the North Carolina State Employees’ Credit Union has gotten smart.
The Credit Union execs are expected to write a record $2.5 billion in new mortgages this year. Oh yeah… here’s a stat for you to catch… only 0.5% of the loans the Credit Union has written to date are more than 90 days past due.
How are they doing it?
They are meeting in person with every one who applies for a mortgage loan and “painstakingly build a household budget that determines what the borrower can really afford.”
And if the homeowner falls behind on payments, they grant brief 30-day extensions and also send out a loan rep to help the borrower put together a new budget.
In some ways, they take on the role of the parent.
I think that Credit Union understands what personal banking and what the new Millennial Generation first time homebuyer is all about.
So by now, you are probably wondering what was the second prediction that was right on target… right?
Well… back last summer I talked about how the Democrats were cashing in at the moment on the new Millennial voter block. Also in that Blog-logue, I said that the loyalty – or better put – the interest level – would not last.
Why? Not because they would debate the issues, but more basically, the Millennials are well known to be ADHD (remember that they are the ones that birthed the whole Ritalin craze of the 90s).
Simple terms… in a couple months, something else would be grabbing their attention and Obama would be “old news.”
As Cal Thomas who writes for USA Today noted in an editorial on Sunday…
“Obama’s people thought the youthful enthusiasm of the presidential campaign could be transformed into an army that would roll over opposition to its policy initiatives. So far, that army has been AWOL.”
So much so AMOL, just look around and ask how many folks in their 20s have you seen recently at any of the Healthcare rallies – pro or con?
I am not kidding one bit when I tell you this past week I saw some UGA freshmen replacing their Obama stickers with Wii stickers.
Now your probably asking … while this is all interesting, what does this have to do with my job to sell our brand and generate sales… I don’t work in the housing industry nor the banking industry nor do I work for Wii.
And that answer is simple.
The Millennials are no longer coming…they are here… BIG TIME.
And the models of the past in terms of how people think, how they view reality, what they perceive as reality and how you grab their attention and build equity has all changed.
A couple of brands are getting it.
And a few of the trend folks too!
Get ready… because the BrandVenture 2010 Trendcast is getting posted on our Website on September 28, 2009.
Call me at 404.245.9378 and book a presentation for your brand team!
Hey... we are sometimes telling you something that is right on target...
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Maternal Co-Dependency and Man Space
Maybe I came out of a more “independent” family, but my mother did not live with me nor was involved in everything I did once I turned say…twelve.
She had her stuff that she did and my father had his stuff that he did that left me with a rather independent life to live on my own.
That’s not to say that there weren’t curfew hours and rules about what I had to do and what I couldn’t do, but it wasn’t like my parents – my mother in particular – was living my day-to-day life with me.
I started seeing the shift with these Generation X parents about five years ago when we did some Coffee House Chats among moms and their elementary school kids.
The moms talked about how they went to school with their kid and sat in the classroom with their kid when the kid had study work to complete.
Then about two years ago, we did a website and a series of television spots for one of the universities in Georgia.
The website was fashioned just for parents. The link to the parent site was right below the link the kids hit to learn more about the school. The television spots highlighted the mom and dad’s perspective of college life.
This past weekend here in Athens, the dorms opened back up and the parents along with the students took over the local Target, Wal-Mart, Lowes and Home Depot buying up everything from futons to towels to floor lamps.
While a few fathers could be seen…the moms were out in force!
Last night on HGTV, there was a mom that insisted that her recent college-graduate daughter could not move into her own home because her mother said that the two were inseparable. (no joke!)
Then I saw one of those Free-Standing Insert ads in the Sunday paper that I thought probably hit right into the core of it all.
The ad was marketing Philips Norelco shavers.
The headline read: “I Can Make You The Happiest Mom In The World” and the pictorial featured a comparative line graph of “Mom’s Happiness” compared to “Frequency of Trimming.”
Are the same words going through your mind that went through mine?
“Co-dependency”
“Uncut umbilical cord”
“Virgin Mary”
“Weird”
“Kinky”
Okay… I will stop there.
No question that these GenXers came out of the highest divorce rate ever posted among parents. Some of the population statistics say that nearly 50% of GenXers were raised as kids by divorced parents.
There’s also a second trend that is tied to this maternal dependency.
It’s the increasing popularity of what is called “Man Space.”
There’s even a show on HGTV called “Man Land” all about men taking back space in the house that they can call there own.
Gone are the “Family Rooms” and in now are the “Man Rooms.”
It’s the Home Pub, the Vintage Theatre, the Home Office Space, the Game Room, the Car Repair Shop, the Gardening Shed and the Garage Workshop.
When you Google “Man Space,” there’s a book that comes up on Amazon.com titled “Manspace. A Primal Guide To Marking Your Territory.”
The psychologist side of me truly does believe that the GenXer Mother’s are co-dependent with their kids and the guys are into the tribal call of individuality and same-gender bonding.
While the Norelco FSI doesn’t appeal much to me, I would still give them a creative award for at least digging into what seems to be happening out there right now.
The BIG questions are where all else can these Gen X mindset and relationship dynamics empower brands next? Real Estate? Automotive? Apparel? Furniture? Quick Service Restaurants? (Taco Bell and Quizno’s might already be on it!)
Over the years, I have worked with several hospital clients on the development of a Women’s Health Services venture. These range from specific disease programs like Cancer treatment to whole hospitals dedicated solely to women and women’s health.
My bet is that we are going to see both of these trends start to impact healthcare.
A mother-daughter team may soon replace the wife-husband team in the delivery room. We may even see a special family center developed just for mothers in the sports medicine and treatment section of the hospital.
Is the all male hospital next featuring cardiac care, orthopedics, sports medicine, diabetes and prostate cancer screening…maybe even special wings of the hospital sponsored by a brand like Viagra…the next big trend in healthcare facilities?
If women can have a whole specialty service sector…even customized hospitals, then why can’t men?
Something tells me as I type this blog that we will see more of both of these observations in our 2010 Trendcast that will hit the news wires in about 60 days.
She had her stuff that she did and my father had his stuff that he did that left me with a rather independent life to live on my own.
That’s not to say that there weren’t curfew hours and rules about what I had to do and what I couldn’t do, but it wasn’t like my parents – my mother in particular – was living my day-to-day life with me.
I started seeing the shift with these Generation X parents about five years ago when we did some Coffee House Chats among moms and their elementary school kids.
The moms talked about how they went to school with their kid and sat in the classroom with their kid when the kid had study work to complete.
Then about two years ago, we did a website and a series of television spots for one of the universities in Georgia.
The website was fashioned just for parents. The link to the parent site was right below the link the kids hit to learn more about the school. The television spots highlighted the mom and dad’s perspective of college life.
This past weekend here in Athens, the dorms opened back up and the parents along with the students took over the local Target, Wal-Mart, Lowes and Home Depot buying up everything from futons to towels to floor lamps.
While a few fathers could be seen…the moms were out in force!
Last night on HGTV, there was a mom that insisted that her recent college-graduate daughter could not move into her own home because her mother said that the two were inseparable. (no joke!)
Then I saw one of those Free-Standing Insert ads in the Sunday paper that I thought probably hit right into the core of it all.
The ad was marketing Philips Norelco shavers.
The headline read: “I Can Make You The Happiest Mom In The World” and the pictorial featured a comparative line graph of “Mom’s Happiness” compared to “Frequency of Trimming.”
Are the same words going through your mind that went through mine?
“Co-dependency”
“Uncut umbilical cord”
“Virgin Mary”
“Weird”
“Kinky”
Okay… I will stop there.
No question that these GenXers came out of the highest divorce rate ever posted among parents. Some of the population statistics say that nearly 50% of GenXers were raised as kids by divorced parents.
There’s also a second trend that is tied to this maternal dependency.
It’s the increasing popularity of what is called “Man Space.”
There’s even a show on HGTV called “Man Land” all about men taking back space in the house that they can call there own.
Gone are the “Family Rooms” and in now are the “Man Rooms.”
It’s the Home Pub, the Vintage Theatre, the Home Office Space, the Game Room, the Car Repair Shop, the Gardening Shed and the Garage Workshop.
When you Google “Man Space,” there’s a book that comes up on Amazon.com titled “Manspace. A Primal Guide To Marking Your Territory.”
The psychologist side of me truly does believe that the GenXer Mother’s are co-dependent with their kids and the guys are into the tribal call of individuality and same-gender bonding.
While the Norelco FSI doesn’t appeal much to me, I would still give them a creative award for at least digging into what seems to be happening out there right now.
The BIG questions are where all else can these Gen X mindset and relationship dynamics empower brands next? Real Estate? Automotive? Apparel? Furniture? Quick Service Restaurants? (Taco Bell and Quizno’s might already be on it!)
Over the years, I have worked with several hospital clients on the development of a Women’s Health Services venture. These range from specific disease programs like Cancer treatment to whole hospitals dedicated solely to women and women’s health.
My bet is that we are going to see both of these trends start to impact healthcare.
A mother-daughter team may soon replace the wife-husband team in the delivery room. We may even see a special family center developed just for mothers in the sports medicine and treatment section of the hospital.
Is the all male hospital next featuring cardiac care, orthopedics, sports medicine, diabetes and prostate cancer screening…maybe even special wings of the hospital sponsored by a brand like Viagra…the next big trend in healthcare facilities?
If women can have a whole specialty service sector…even customized hospitals, then why can’t men?
Something tells me as I type this blog that we will see more of both of these observations in our 2010 Trendcast that will hit the news wires in about 60 days.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Confirmation Of What's Hot And What's Not
I got confirmation yesterday evening that I did the right thing moving from the city of Atlanta to the cool town of Athens.
That’s not to say that Atlanta isn’t a nice place. And that’s not to say that Athens is the ideal.
But it was a smart move at just the right time!
On Saturday, I received the new 8/17 issue of Business Week. There were two articles that grabbed my attention and believe it or not, I sat back on the couch and read each one word-for-word.
One of the articles is titled “Capitalism, No. Free Enterprise, Yes.”
Turns out that the US Chamber of Commerce conducted a series of focus groups among Obama voters, McCain voters and small business owners. All three groups responded similar: “capitalism” was associated from the top down and government and “free enterprise” was associated from the grass roots up.
“Capitalism” was bad. “Free Enterprise” and “Entrepreneur” were good.
The second article is about Howard Schultz and Starbucks.
The subtitle captures it all: “He’s facing the fact that the once free-spirited Starbucks is now a multibillion-dollar machine that embraces more conventional management.”
In 1987, Schultz purchased six stores in Seattle.
Today, after recently cutting costs by $500 million, closing down 800 stores in the U.S. and laying off more than 4,000 employees, Schultz is still faced with the management of more than 16,000 stores in 50 countries globally.
Why am I sharing these stories in the context of the move of BrandVenture from Atlanta to Athens?
The confirmation experience last night took place at a restaurant/pub here in Athens called “The Globe.”
I doubt that The Globe will ever be featured in the high fashion magazines like Metropolitan Home, but it draws a pretty good representation of who all dwells here in this place called Athens.
One of the waiters at the bar taught religion for five years at the University of Georgia and now works at The Globe as well as records, produces and launches music from local artists in the Asian East.
Another group of guys sitting on the couches were talking about ways they could generate more fuel from corn than the processing model that is currently being used.
There was a couple that came and sat at the bar that was from Philadelphia. He taught Shakespearean Literature at one of the small private colleges outside of Philly. He and I got into a discussion about how Twitter could be used to get students to read articles and blogs rather than the textbooks that many avoided unless they had the Cliff Notes version.
Both the couple and another guy across the bar used their iPhones to text message friends while sipping on the brew.
There was nearly an equal mix of Millennials and aging Boomers. The two groups mix well. If any GenXers were there, they were the DINK version (Dual Income No Kids).
A table of age 60+ Boomers sat and discussed their concerns about the government taking over healthcare and alternative ways that they might modify what is currently out there to work more efficiently.
Along with a good drink, I also ordered two of the special small homemade burgers. I thought that I was about to get something similar to the ones that Burger King is currently promoting.
Instead I got two really great homemade, hand-shaped burgers with fresh lettuce and mayo.
Who says that High Touch and High Tech cannot co-exist?
To be honest, this is what Free Enterprise is all about.
This is what drives creative thinking and innovation. This is what got Howard Schultz convinced that he needed to purchase those first six coffee houses and bring them to life for others to also experience the same thing that he enjoyed about them.
The advertising community in Atlanta is a very inbred lot of very similar “Integrated Marketing Communication” companies. Not only did we not fit, I cannot easily see how creativity and innovation can function in a community of “sameness.”
And here is one last refreshing experience to share. A few hours ago, when I got to about here in writing this blog, I had to take a break and go visit a bank called Athens First.
The banking officer is a nice Millennial guy probably in his early-to-mid 20s. He told me that in a couple of weeks he would be starting classes in the MBA program at the University of Georgia.
At first I thought MBA? Oh well, this is a bank after all and banks are slow to change.
But then he told me that over the weekend, he attended a session that was hosted by Chris Hank. Chris is an entrepreneurial leader and has recently been added as a guest faculty member to the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.
This guy from the bank went on to say that he cannot wait to take the courses that Chris Hanks teaches and that he really wants to be an entrepreneur.
Now that is refreshing!
And moving the company from Atlanta to Athens was the right move to make!
That’s not to say that Atlanta isn’t a nice place. And that’s not to say that Athens is the ideal.
But it was a smart move at just the right time!
On Saturday, I received the new 8/17 issue of Business Week. There were two articles that grabbed my attention and believe it or not, I sat back on the couch and read each one word-for-word.
One of the articles is titled “Capitalism, No. Free Enterprise, Yes.”
Turns out that the US Chamber of Commerce conducted a series of focus groups among Obama voters, McCain voters and small business owners. All three groups responded similar: “capitalism” was associated from the top down and government and “free enterprise” was associated from the grass roots up.
“Capitalism” was bad. “Free Enterprise” and “Entrepreneur” were good.
The second article is about Howard Schultz and Starbucks.
The subtitle captures it all: “He’s facing the fact that the once free-spirited Starbucks is now a multibillion-dollar machine that embraces more conventional management.”
In 1987, Schultz purchased six stores in Seattle.
Today, after recently cutting costs by $500 million, closing down 800 stores in the U.S. and laying off more than 4,000 employees, Schultz is still faced with the management of more than 16,000 stores in 50 countries globally.
Why am I sharing these stories in the context of the move of BrandVenture from Atlanta to Athens?
The confirmation experience last night took place at a restaurant/pub here in Athens called “The Globe.”
I doubt that The Globe will ever be featured in the high fashion magazines like Metropolitan Home, but it draws a pretty good representation of who all dwells here in this place called Athens.
One of the waiters at the bar taught religion for five years at the University of Georgia and now works at The Globe as well as records, produces and launches music from local artists in the Asian East.
Another group of guys sitting on the couches were talking about ways they could generate more fuel from corn than the processing model that is currently being used.
There was a couple that came and sat at the bar that was from Philadelphia. He taught Shakespearean Literature at one of the small private colleges outside of Philly. He and I got into a discussion about how Twitter could be used to get students to read articles and blogs rather than the textbooks that many avoided unless they had the Cliff Notes version.
Both the couple and another guy across the bar used their iPhones to text message friends while sipping on the brew.
There was nearly an equal mix of Millennials and aging Boomers. The two groups mix well. If any GenXers were there, they were the DINK version (Dual Income No Kids).
A table of age 60+ Boomers sat and discussed their concerns about the government taking over healthcare and alternative ways that they might modify what is currently out there to work more efficiently.
Along with a good drink, I also ordered two of the special small homemade burgers. I thought that I was about to get something similar to the ones that Burger King is currently promoting.
Instead I got two really great homemade, hand-shaped burgers with fresh lettuce and mayo.
Who says that High Touch and High Tech cannot co-exist?
To be honest, this is what Free Enterprise is all about.
This is what drives creative thinking and innovation. This is what got Howard Schultz convinced that he needed to purchase those first six coffee houses and bring them to life for others to also experience the same thing that he enjoyed about them.
The advertising community in Atlanta is a very inbred lot of very similar “Integrated Marketing Communication” companies. Not only did we not fit, I cannot easily see how creativity and innovation can function in a community of “sameness.”
And here is one last refreshing experience to share. A few hours ago, when I got to about here in writing this blog, I had to take a break and go visit a bank called Athens First.
The banking officer is a nice Millennial guy probably in his early-to-mid 20s. He told me that in a couple of weeks he would be starting classes in the MBA program at the University of Georgia.
At first I thought MBA? Oh well, this is a bank after all and banks are slow to change.
But then he told me that over the weekend, he attended a session that was hosted by Chris Hank. Chris is an entrepreneurial leader and has recently been added as a guest faculty member to the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.
This guy from the bank went on to say that he cannot wait to take the courses that Chris Hanks teaches and that he really wants to be an entrepreneur.
Now that is refreshing!
And moving the company from Atlanta to Athens was the right move to make!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Advertising Funding Newspaper Content -- What Little Is Left!
Newspapers are certainly going through an interesting time.
It really wasn’t that long ago when newspapers actually had true circulation numbers and people really read the stories.
I know that everyone wants to put the blame on the Internet as the agent of destruction.
As the story they tell goes…
”People not only can access the news 24/7 on the web, they can easily get different perspectives of the same story from a variety of sources including those Blogs that have really lead to the demise of the newspapers.”
Back in the 1970s, many predicted that the newspapers were on their way out with television news that was so much more easy to digest…and then, with the launch of CNN, the naysayers all used the 24/7 argument that the papers were soon history.
I know that this is way out there on the limb, but many papers stopped gaining circulation when they lost perspective of what it meant to report the news.
Maybe it was the Washington Post and Watergate that became the cheap cocaine that all the editors and writers scouted out to find.
Maybe it was corporations like Cox, Gannet and E. W. Scripps that found it more affordable to mass produce on the publishing end.
Or maybe it was the accountants and corporate business management that decided it was way too expensive to actually author and present original stories and that the AP stories were just as good and a heck of a lot cheaper to produce.
Whatever prompted the change in news reporting, the papers have gotten smaller and smaller and the news content has gotten worse and worse.
In fact, it is very difficult now to distinguish what is actually the news and what is actually editorial commentary.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) has certainly seen much better days. Earlier this year, the paper canceled circulation in many of the central Georgia counties.
The AJC has reworked the format, but folks I know who still work there all have their resumes out circulating in hopes of finding a job before the paper issues another round of lay-offs...or worse yet, closes its doors.
Where I live now in Athens – a city just over an hour’s drive away from Atlanta – you cannot get the AJC delivered to the home nor can you buy it at the newsstands.
I am sure that the Athens folks will not like hearing this, but the local paper here in Athens is so bad that I celebrate each day they downsize it further because at least a few more trees will get a chance to live.
As a graduate of a journalism school, all we heard back in those college days was how great was pure journalism and how advertising really wasn’t much different from prostitution.
This journalism school I graduated from is known for its annual Peabody Awards that recognizes outstanding writing, perspectives and editorial.
The Academics get their hearts racing just thinking about it.
The Peabody Awards are really not too different than the Addy Awards that together reinforce a strong narcissism-fostering environment.
Yesterday’s local Athens Sunday paper truly captured the current moment in time. There were three times as many pages of advertising inserts as there were of any regular newspaper pages.
Yes…many of the inserts promoted “back-to-school” specials, but there were also ads for everything from toilet paper to vitamins to camping gear.
I wonder how many of the chief editors are picking up the phone today and calling the CMOs at places like Target, CVS, Kroger, Office Depot, Sears and Lowes to thank them for spending the marketing dollars that will bring food on the home table for at least another week or so.
Even though there are the occasional online short videos and pop-up promotions, I haven’t seen any advertising online as significant as the ad content in the Sunday papers.
I sometimes wonder if I were the Chief Editor of the AJC, if I would have gone and cancelled the outer county subscriptions and distribution.
Maybe…just maybe… I would have at least continued the Saturday and Sunday circulation. I know that if I had folks added to my weekend readership, my CPM (cost per thousand) might stay the same, but my revenue would go up.
And maybe…just maybe…. I would have gone out there and found some pure heart journalists that have a passion for reporting the news and keeping the editorial content totally confined to the editorial page.
Something tells me that newspaper publishing might just be in my genes.
It really wasn’t that long ago when newspapers actually had true circulation numbers and people really read the stories.
I know that everyone wants to put the blame on the Internet as the agent of destruction.
As the story they tell goes…
”People not only can access the news 24/7 on the web, they can easily get different perspectives of the same story from a variety of sources including those Blogs that have really lead to the demise of the newspapers.”
Back in the 1970s, many predicted that the newspapers were on their way out with television news that was so much more easy to digest…and then, with the launch of CNN, the naysayers all used the 24/7 argument that the papers were soon history.
I know that this is way out there on the limb, but many papers stopped gaining circulation when they lost perspective of what it meant to report the news.
Maybe it was the Washington Post and Watergate that became the cheap cocaine that all the editors and writers scouted out to find.
Maybe it was corporations like Cox, Gannet and E. W. Scripps that found it more affordable to mass produce on the publishing end.
Or maybe it was the accountants and corporate business management that decided it was way too expensive to actually author and present original stories and that the AP stories were just as good and a heck of a lot cheaper to produce.
Whatever prompted the change in news reporting, the papers have gotten smaller and smaller and the news content has gotten worse and worse.
In fact, it is very difficult now to distinguish what is actually the news and what is actually editorial commentary.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) has certainly seen much better days. Earlier this year, the paper canceled circulation in many of the central Georgia counties.
The AJC has reworked the format, but folks I know who still work there all have their resumes out circulating in hopes of finding a job before the paper issues another round of lay-offs...or worse yet, closes its doors.
Where I live now in Athens – a city just over an hour’s drive away from Atlanta – you cannot get the AJC delivered to the home nor can you buy it at the newsstands.
I am sure that the Athens folks will not like hearing this, but the local paper here in Athens is so bad that I celebrate each day they downsize it further because at least a few more trees will get a chance to live.
As a graduate of a journalism school, all we heard back in those college days was how great was pure journalism and how advertising really wasn’t much different from prostitution.
This journalism school I graduated from is known for its annual Peabody Awards that recognizes outstanding writing, perspectives and editorial.
The Academics get their hearts racing just thinking about it.
The Peabody Awards are really not too different than the Addy Awards that together reinforce a strong narcissism-fostering environment.
Yesterday’s local Athens Sunday paper truly captured the current moment in time. There were three times as many pages of advertising inserts as there were of any regular newspaper pages.
Yes…many of the inserts promoted “back-to-school” specials, but there were also ads for everything from toilet paper to vitamins to camping gear.
I wonder how many of the chief editors are picking up the phone today and calling the CMOs at places like Target, CVS, Kroger, Office Depot, Sears and Lowes to thank them for spending the marketing dollars that will bring food on the home table for at least another week or so.
Even though there are the occasional online short videos and pop-up promotions, I haven’t seen any advertising online as significant as the ad content in the Sunday papers.
I sometimes wonder if I were the Chief Editor of the AJC, if I would have gone and cancelled the outer county subscriptions and distribution.
Maybe…just maybe… I would have at least continued the Saturday and Sunday circulation. I know that if I had folks added to my weekend readership, my CPM (cost per thousand) might stay the same, but my revenue would go up.
And maybe…just maybe…. I would have gone out there and found some pure heart journalists that have a passion for reporting the news and keeping the editorial content totally confined to the editorial page.
Something tells me that newspaper publishing might just be in my genes.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Keep It Simple And Think Like The Customer!
Between last week’s blog and this week’s entry, I moved into a new house in Athens, Georgia.
Whew… I really have no plans on moving again any time soon!
Even though I had professional movers, I still moved around furniture to fit better in the rooms and there were still lots of boxes to unpack.
Yesterday was consumed with getting the Internet activated and set up. Let ‘s just say that I could write a whole blog about the lack of any organization with AT&T and its new centralized branding as the communications resource.
This afternoon I went to the grocery store to restock my kitchen shelves with many of the key basics used to prepare meals. My afternoon challenge centered around figuring out just where the products on my iPhone list were located in the store.
I finally found everything I was looking for, but that was after asking at least a half a dozen other shoppers where they thought this item and that item might be located.
I am now at home and tripped across an interesting posting on Shopper 360’s Twitter Site about a study one of the CPG Brands did that involved the creation of a shopping aisle totally dedicated to convenience foods.
Hormel was the CPG Brand that funded the research.
Hormel, long known for their canned meats and stews, had discovered that only 35% of shoppers reported knowing where to look for convenience food items while another 65% reported being totally frustrated and confused.
By the way, the confusion cited was in relationship to all the items placed around what the consumers were searching for that led many of them to believe that there were way too many options on the shelf.
”Because research indicated that consumers shop by need state, Hormel advocated creating a Convenience Food Aisle which would contain all convenience meal occasion items in the same place, instead of having them scattered throughout the store and lost amid other products.”
Hormel then worked in partnership with a couple of the grocery chains in creating a Convenience Aisle anchored by microwavable items and quick to prepare (in five minutes or less) food items.
The result? Stores that created the Convenience Aisle saw an average increase of 19% in sales.
Wow… that’s impressive!
Earlier today, I met with a new client that has developed a very cool quick service restaurant concept.
In addition to crafting his brand story, we are also working on refining his operational and interior space based on customer input in the first prototype store.
Before I go any further, I have to share that the client who came up with the concept and is putting the money behind its development is a Millennial that is at least one full presidential term away from turning thirty.
Isn’t it great how the forthcoming generation thinks!
Anyhow, one of the items being refined is their menu board that currently lists out all the items available. As the client said, “we need to simplify it and keep it centered on our key signature items.”
Wow… that’s impressive!
I told some friends today that I think I am going to donate the last un-opened boxes labeled “Dining Room” to one of the local charities. They asked why and I said that with what I have unpacked, I am fine and the last thing I need is yet more stuff.
Consistently keeping a brand simple is not easy, but that brands that do become winners.
Whew… I really have no plans on moving again any time soon!
Even though I had professional movers, I still moved around furniture to fit better in the rooms and there were still lots of boxes to unpack.
Yesterday was consumed with getting the Internet activated and set up. Let ‘s just say that I could write a whole blog about the lack of any organization with AT&T and its new centralized branding as the communications resource.
This afternoon I went to the grocery store to restock my kitchen shelves with many of the key basics used to prepare meals. My afternoon challenge centered around figuring out just where the products on my iPhone list were located in the store.
I finally found everything I was looking for, but that was after asking at least a half a dozen other shoppers where they thought this item and that item might be located.
I am now at home and tripped across an interesting posting on Shopper 360’s Twitter Site about a study one of the CPG Brands did that involved the creation of a shopping aisle totally dedicated to convenience foods.
Hormel was the CPG Brand that funded the research.
Hormel, long known for their canned meats and stews, had discovered that only 35% of shoppers reported knowing where to look for convenience food items while another 65% reported being totally frustrated and confused.
By the way, the confusion cited was in relationship to all the items placed around what the consumers were searching for that led many of them to believe that there were way too many options on the shelf.
”Because research indicated that consumers shop by need state, Hormel advocated creating a Convenience Food Aisle which would contain all convenience meal occasion items in the same place, instead of having them scattered throughout the store and lost amid other products.”
Hormel then worked in partnership with a couple of the grocery chains in creating a Convenience Aisle anchored by microwavable items and quick to prepare (in five minutes or less) food items.
The result? Stores that created the Convenience Aisle saw an average increase of 19% in sales.
Wow… that’s impressive!
Earlier today, I met with a new client that has developed a very cool quick service restaurant concept.
In addition to crafting his brand story, we are also working on refining his operational and interior space based on customer input in the first prototype store.
Before I go any further, I have to share that the client who came up with the concept and is putting the money behind its development is a Millennial that is at least one full presidential term away from turning thirty.
Isn’t it great how the forthcoming generation thinks!
Anyhow, one of the items being refined is their menu board that currently lists out all the items available. As the client said, “we need to simplify it and keep it centered on our key signature items.”
Wow… that’s impressive!
I told some friends today that I think I am going to donate the last un-opened boxes labeled “Dining Room” to one of the local charities. They asked why and I said that with what I have unpacked, I am fine and the last thing I need is yet more stuff.
Consistently keeping a brand simple is not easy, but that brands that do become winners.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Don't Write Your Radio Ad!
Is it just me or have others out there noticed how bad radio advertising has gotten?
Here in the midst of folks searching the Internet for information about products and services or soliciting word-of-mouth advice from the social networks like Twitter and Facebook along comes a rash of radio ads based on jingles and slapstick, no relevance humor.
Oh that list can go on from the automobile companies to the temp agencies to the power companies to the airlines… they are all like what we Baby Boomers heard on air back in the 1960s.
And I don’t think any of them are out to be retro!
This morning, I heard a new radio ad for AT&T Wireless.
It opened with a gal and guy talking back and forth of which she makes a double-entendre comment about his lack of getting it up! And they weren’t even talking via an AT&T phone – they were talking in person.
Seriously, I am not kidding.
The ad goes on with more slapstick exchange and little relevance to me as an AT&T Wireless customer.
As many know, I am a strong advocate of cultivating brand cultures through the conveyance of the emotional brand experience, but I cannot figure out how the chief creative got his or her wires that crossed.
Unless, of course, there is a new CMO on the client side that thinks that humor like that grabs audience attention and there is already writing on the wall that the account is soon going into review.
There is no question about it. Radio is a challenging medium.
For years, radio stations have scraped and scratched to deliver the outdated advertising model of reach and frequency
Today advertisers can purchase zoned sections of the newspaper… they can purchase television by cable zone... they can buy national magazines by geographic market… they can purchase key lifestyle groups by ZIP+4 list screeners… but rifle-targeting audience groups using radio?
No… advertisers cannot.
And radio hasn’t really worked to find much of an alternative option.
Perhaps the radio stations have the inside track. Those Gen X brand managers just love to script those radio spots… well they even write those out on the back of the bar napkins!
And those radio production recording studio owners are probably the ones buying the drinks.
And finally, God love the agency account execs who know that if they lose the account their job is out the door…
So… if you love to journey back in time… go turn on that radio and spin the dial.
Oh… and by the way, after those ads have aired and the radio stations have raked in their media dollars, I would wager to bet that the guy on the client side will be sending out his resume.
And I’ll further bet that it will be in paper form and copied out at the local duplicating house.
Well go and Tweak your business friends, remind them that 2010 is just around the corner, I’ll set the dial on NPR and… Hey, Let’s Journey!
Here in the midst of folks searching the Internet for information about products and services or soliciting word-of-mouth advice from the social networks like Twitter and Facebook along comes a rash of radio ads based on jingles and slapstick, no relevance humor.
Oh that list can go on from the automobile companies to the temp agencies to the power companies to the airlines… they are all like what we Baby Boomers heard on air back in the 1960s.
And I don’t think any of them are out to be retro!
This morning, I heard a new radio ad for AT&T Wireless.
It opened with a gal and guy talking back and forth of which she makes a double-entendre comment about his lack of getting it up! And they weren’t even talking via an AT&T phone – they were talking in person.
Seriously, I am not kidding.
The ad goes on with more slapstick exchange and little relevance to me as an AT&T Wireless customer.
As many know, I am a strong advocate of cultivating brand cultures through the conveyance of the emotional brand experience, but I cannot figure out how the chief creative got his or her wires that crossed.
Unless, of course, there is a new CMO on the client side that thinks that humor like that grabs audience attention and there is already writing on the wall that the account is soon going into review.
There is no question about it. Radio is a challenging medium.
For years, radio stations have scraped and scratched to deliver the outdated advertising model of reach and frequency
Today advertisers can purchase zoned sections of the newspaper… they can purchase television by cable zone... they can buy national magazines by geographic market… they can purchase key lifestyle groups by ZIP+4 list screeners… but rifle-targeting audience groups using radio?
No… advertisers cannot.
And radio hasn’t really worked to find much of an alternative option.
Perhaps the radio stations have the inside track. Those Gen X brand managers just love to script those radio spots… well they even write those out on the back of the bar napkins!
And those radio production recording studio owners are probably the ones buying the drinks.
And finally, God love the agency account execs who know that if they lose the account their job is out the door…
So… if you love to journey back in time… go turn on that radio and spin the dial.
Oh… and by the way, after those ads have aired and the radio stations have raked in their media dollars, I would wager to bet that the guy on the client side will be sending out his resume.
And I’ll further bet that it will be in paper form and copied out at the local duplicating house.
Well go and Tweak your business friends, remind them that 2010 is just around the corner, I’ll set the dial on NPR and… Hey, Let’s Journey!
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