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With the influx of non-traditional media companies, publications, and awards over the last few years, it’s hard to believe that non-traditional mediums even existed before the turn of the century.  But one of outdoor’s best has been in the Detroit Market for over 40 years.  Placed alongside one of Detroit’s major arteries, I-94, the infamous UNIROYAL tire stands 80 feet high and weighs 12 tons – the largest tire model ever built.  But the tire didn’t initially just “roll” into The Motor City.  It was originally built as a Ferris wheel for the 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair where it held up to 96 passengers in 24 barrel-shaped gondolas.  Subsequently, it was moved to Michigan and since then has had several renovations and modifications including a giant nail placed in its tread to promote UNIROYAL’s NailGard® self-sealing passenger tire.  It’s truly one of the best outdoor icons in the World and reminds us that imagination can be timeless.

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With more and more traditional and non-traditional marketing opportunities available to companies these days to build their brand, it’s no wonder the death of the 30 second spot continues to be a topic of much conversation.  And one example of the untruth to that discussion is coffee juggernaut Starbucks’ recent launch of their first national TV campaign earlier this month.  

Starbucks, a company who has mastered the art of non-traditional marketing with a storefront on almost every corner, and has traditionally turned up their nose at TV advertising, is suddenly embracing the idea of mass media advertising through TV.  Yes, they’ve run spots before for their packaged product Doubleshot (the “Gene, Gene, Gene” spot is still one of my favorites), but with increased competition in the retail coffee biz, and more importantly slower sales and decreasing share price, Starbucks believes it needs to reach out to a broader audience.    

“As a national leader, we have an opportunity to make sure our voice is heard in the all-important media of TV. This is the beginning of a new opportunity for us,” Chairman Howard Schultz said at the announcement of the campaign. “We are up for the defense, and we will get on the offense.”

So in an effort to get people in the doors and sales and share value moving upward again, Starbucks decided that their plan of attack in the coffee wars would be through a new warm, fuzzy, animated TV holiday campaign that uses the tagline “Pass the Cheer.” 

But on top of all the competition with other coffee chains and independents, Starbucks also has to defend against the deep pockets of McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts who are spending considerable budget on marketing their coffee drinks.

Will the “new” tactic work?  Only time will tell who’ll win this over-caffinated battle, but it’s nice to see recognition of the power TV advertising is to the importance to a brand. 

Let us know what you think.  

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In the market for a unique Christmas gift for that hard-to-buy-for Aunt Betty? Well, Highmark (no, not Hallmark) has the answer. The PA-based insurer teamed up with Visa to introduce the first ever Healthcare Gift Card earlier this month. She can use it for whatever suits her healthful fancy - from co-pays for doc visits and scripts to gym memberships and botox. Critics say the fact that there is a market for this card speaks to our inadequate reimbursement and insurance system. The Canadians would be astounded. And I’m sure Michael Moore could have a field day “interviewing” Highmark execs on this topic.

It’s unfortunate that we have to shoulder more of our own healthcare costs, but I for one think this is a grand marketing idea, especially in our gift-obsessed culture. No more Tower of Treats for the Aunt Bettys on my Christmas list. Why not give a gift that can encourage healthfulness, rather than decadence? (Not so sure botox fits that category, but my elderly relatives would never go there…) It could also be a useful gift for college students, low income moms, the “giving tree” at church…and from the looks of him, I think Michael Moore could use a Healthcare Gift Card or two himself!

 What do you think? 

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It’s the day after Thanksgiving. You’re beginning to recover from the tryptophan-induced napping. You may even be thinking about heading out to do some Black Friday shopping for Christmas. Good luck with that. I’m staying away from the malls personally.

But I do want to give thanks for our clients. They keep us in business; they let us do good work; they are the relationships that make the work worth doing.

And, fortunately, none of OUR clients would ever do anything that resembles anything in this little fun movie clip below. Nope. Never. Never.

Hope your Thanksgiving was great. Back to work on Monday!

~Jim

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This is my Thanksgiving Day blog post!  Nothing much for you to sink your teeth into, because I think you have enough to be sinking your teeth into right now.   So for a change you are not getting any brilliant advertising, PR, media or healthcare marketing insight.  Just some jokes.  Try ‘em, they are classics.  When everyone is in a food coma, they will think you are brilliant.  Enjoy and I hope you have much to be thankful for.  I do.

Tell these jokes: 

How do you keep a turkey in suspense?
I’ll tell you at Christmas.

Why did the turkey cross the road?
It was the chicken’s day off.

Knock, knock!
Who’s there?
Arthur.
Arthur who?
Arthur any leftovers?

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Dewey.
Dewey who?
Dewey have to wait long to eat?

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Waddle.
Waddle who?
Waddle I do if you don’t open the door?

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Harry.
Harry who?
Harry up, I’m hungry!

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Gladys.
Gladys who?

Gladys Thanksgiving, aren’t you?

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Many media departments are distant from their agency counterparts - floors away, buildings away, cities away, states away, and sometimes countries away.  Which can create monetary efficiencies mainly based on centralization of processes, but if not orchestrated well could lead to severe leaks in the strategic process altogether.  If a media team is not connected to the look, feel, tone of a message, the result could be a media buy with the opposite look, feel, and tone.  Standard demographics just do not contain enough information to pull off the optimal campaign – there is too much market fragmentation and therefore, too much room for error.  Additionally, with media (including consumer generated media) sending their own messages, planners and buyers need to be careful that the advertiser message is consistent with the content message.  With the technology available today, this isn’t a remote possibility but rather an economical necessity.  Not doing so could negatively impact goals and/or lead to an irreversible, embarrassing situation. 

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Half-hour appointments where your doctor actually sits down, looks into your eyes and listens to all of your problems without interruption. House calls. Same-day appointments. Nicer, uncrowded reception areas (not “waiting rooms” as waiting is a no-no). Cell phone and email access to your doc. Even travel to your locale if you become ill or injured while away.

 Do all those competitive advantages seem too operationally good to be true? Well, they aren’t, as long as you don’t mind paying. Concierge medicine, or “boutique” medicine as it’s often called, ranges in an annual retainer fee of $1500 to $20,000. But providers and takers alike are quite taken with it. Concierge docs are so booked, and with satisifed repeat customers, that it’s often hard to get in. Doctors limit their patient load to about 600 (down from typical 2500), allowing them to see fewer, (richer),  patients. They make more. They feel better about life. And so do their patients. Critics argue this will hamper Medicare patients’ ability to find a primary care doctor. Already true in Naples FLA. And less than 8% of med school grads chose family medicine this year, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.  However, the Government Accountability Office issued a report in 2005 stating that concierge medicine was not yet a problem, just something to be monitored.

I think it’s a free country and there is a place for concierge medicine. (It’s why private pay Canadian patients flock to the states to get more immediate care.)  But I also think it’s sad that today’s healthcare system doesn’t allow for these Dr. Welby type amenities to occur naturally. Remember Doc on  Gunsmoke? Okay, I’m dating myself and actually I’m quite grateful doctors are no longer removing those goll-durn bullets with just a swig of whiskey… but does YOUR doctor throw on her boots and ride across town when you have aches and pains? It’s that very personal doctor-patient relationship, the genuine caring, bedside manner, that is truly hard to find. It’s frustrating for both doctor and patient to be rushed through the system. And a shame that what used to be more of a given is now more of a luxury for the privileged few.

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Where’s Darren Steven?

Over the past couple of years marketers like Target, Mazda, Sprite, and others have increasingly used catchy tune to generate interest in their brand and their products. According to AdAge’s Marc Altshuler, music continues to do what it has done for decades: Inflect the visual content of ads. Does it work? Check out some of my old and new favorites and see if they get you humming:

Share some of your favorites with us.

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Are you celebrating your employees or encouraging them to bury themselves in their work and their heads in the sand? 

As an advertising, marketing and PR firm, anything to do with branding is of deep interest to us.  The concepts of “personal branding” and “employee branding” are being talked about more and more lately.  The interest in career coaching has made “personal brand coaching” something that professionals are looking at.

How can companies support and encourage this interest?  What is in it for a company?   Here are some ideas and suggestions:

1. Embracing personal brands as part of your company culture can help build your business and your productivity. 
2. Encouraging, recognizing and deploying individual skills and talents creates positive energy
3. Actively committing to creating a culture of mutual respect and celebration allow employees to more fully contribute

How to encourage personal brands?

1. Suggest that employees create personal brand statements— who are they, what do they stand for?
2. Instead of nameplates, how about encouraging employees to post pictures of themselves?
3. Encourage employees to create their own branded secondary titles, branded email signatures, voicemail messages.

Celebrate the individuals who power your organization, celebrate and develop their individual strengths and abilities.  In the end, people do business with both a company and the wonderful individuals who are a part of it!  Power to the BRAND!

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It’s fall. A glorious time for changing leaves and television media buying. Heroes is back on. Chuck is taking off. It gets dark really early, so you curl up with the warm glow of the LCD flat screen and absorb billions of dollars worth of advertising messages.

But there’s a writers strike. And advertisers are evaluating their options. With the writer’s strike in its second week, production has ceased on most prime time shooting, including Desperate Housewives, the Office and 24 (which is probably good since Kiefer is in the slammer anyway). So far, only the talk shows have been sent to reruns, but that will have to change if the strike continues for too long.

The big losers in this won’t be the advertisers, but the stations. If ratings plunge, the media buyers won’t lose because they have guarantees of viewership in their buys.

But if the strike continues and media buyers pull their budgets, where will all the $$ flow? Good question. What do you think?

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I’ve often wondered how my keen sense of humor and stellar creative capabilities in my youth led me into the ad agency world of media versus the land of creative.   Perhaps it was all of the advanced math and statistics courses that skewed my path.  I’m not disappointed; the media world is fascinating and currently evolving at a rapid pace.  I’m proud to be a part of it.  Yet, my biggest challenge over the years hasn’t been buying, planning, or strategizing media but overcoming the “Redheaded Stepchild” (no offense to redheaded stepchildren, I happen to know a few and they are superior individuals) label pasted on agency media departments.  Maybe it wasn’t the late nights trying to get the answer to the very last story problem that led me down this road, but rather having the skills and desire necessary to change what I see as “redheaded stepchildren” into a more fitting label such as “first-born, blonde bombshells”.  We all know that essentially all departments that make up an ad agency are needed for client success, but think about these things the next time you question the importance of an agency’s media department (or pass up a redheaded stepchild):

Media Spending:  With billions of dollars spent on advertising media each year and media usually the majority of a client’s budget, it is in an agency’s best interest to place this responsibility in the hands of well-trained professionals.   The different tools needed to develop media direction based on client needs, build strong partnerships, and leverage valuable dollars aren’t easy to come by in just one individual.  Great media folks have these in skills their tool kit and they are essential to determining implementing the optimal media direction for their clients.  With so many dollars at stake, it just shouldn’t be any other way.

Creativity: Product placement, aqua advertising, wallscapes, projection advertising, and parking lot stripes – just a few examples of the creative output found in agency meeting departments.  Though sometimes the ideas stem from media and other times creative, the optimal scenario takes place when creative and media departments collaborate to determine the optimal solution for a client. 

Emerging Media and Ever-changing Media Landscape: Who plans and buys those ads that expand or peel back on web sites?  Or the text links found on search engines?  Or the rich media that floats across your web page?  Why redheaded media stepchildren around the globe do.  Media strategists aren’t constrained by just a few choices in media (television, radio, newspaper); the digital world has changed the media landscape into one that into accounts and makes room for the still growing media consumption on the Internet. 

In closing, the next time you find yourself saying, “What a great ad” during a commercial break, consider that you wouldn’t have seen it if it weren’t for the media professional who made certain that it was viewed by the right person, at the right time, and for the right price.  

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This past Sunday night, I had the honor of being with a lot of really nice people who graced me with really nice memories of my Dad. It was the Michigan Parkinson Foundation’s Annual Cabaret event, a fancy dinner, silent auction and jazz entertainment affair, with a goal to raise $60,000 for this very important cause. My Dad had this cruel disease for 20 years, from the time he was 55, until he died at 75. That’s why I chose this cause to be involved with as the “community involvement” part of my healthcare marketing job.

I talked to many caregivers who so wanted me to give them hope as I relayed my Dad’s story. I tried my best to provide words of encouragement. I saw many tuxedoed older men who are “living with Parkinson’s” (we don’t call them “patients”!) who were probably very tired, yet looking so great! I smiled in remembrance of my father’s composure and strength in battling his disease. I noticed “Dr.” on some name badges and thought how wonderful it was that they cared enough about their patients to attend. I saw many donated auction items by people living with Parkinson’s, their caregivers, and people who are touched by this disease. I said a little prayer for them all, and for my Dad whose struggle with this disease so touched me.  

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