Advertising
- Business Social Networks
- Advertising on Municipal Vehicles
- Small Firms to Lead Green Movement
- Verizon’s Pit-Bull Branding
- TV Commercials That Sell
- TV Product Placements in Spotlight
- ROI of Celebrity Advertising
- Confidence Index Drops to 50.4
- Small Type on Television
- Unreadable Billboard Copy
Posted by
Carroll Trosclair
Carroll Trosclair
Impressed with the success of Facebooks, companies and industries are planning their own social networking sites to stimulate business.
According to eMarketer, some firms and industries have been so impressed with social networking sites that they have not only joined Facebook’s youth club, but they are now launching their own sites for business networking.
EMarketer reports that business-to-business (B2B) advertising on social networking sites will reach $40 million in 2008, a 179 percent increase over the $15 million spent in 2007. The research firm predicts the total will zoom to $210 million by 2012.
But the business-to-business ad growth is just part of the story, according to Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer.
LinkedIn Is Best Known B2B Network
"Marketers will spend far more over the next few years to create and manage their own social networks for business customers, partners, suppliers and vendors," Williamson says in a new eMarketer report. She says the new business networks will be used, among other things, to improve communications with customers and to assist in the development of new products.
Will they be called "social" networks, or B2B networks?
LinkedIn is currently the best known professional network, having doubled its membership in the past year. But Williamson said the biggest growth in business networks is expected to be in vertical sites serving professions such as lawyers, technology and video.
Reference: eMarketer.com
EMarketer reports that business-to-business (B2B) advertising on social networking sites will reach $40 million in 2008, a 179 percent increase over the $15 million spent in 2007. The research firm predicts the total will zoom to $210 million by 2012.
But the business-to-business ad growth is just part of the story, according to Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer.
LinkedIn Is Best Known B2B Network
"Marketers will spend far more over the next few years to create and manage their own social networks for business customers, partners, suppliers and vendors," Williamson says in a new eMarketer report. She says the new business networks will be used, among other things, to improve communications with customers and to assist in the development of new products.
Will they be called "social" networks, or B2B networks?
LinkedIn is currently the best known professional network, having doubled its membership in the past year. But Williamson said the biggest growth in business networks is expected to be in vertical sites serving professions such as lawyers, technology and video.
Reference: eMarketer.com
Advertising on Municipal Vehicles
Posted by
Carroll Trosclair
Carroll Trosclair
Numerous questions and issues pop up when cities consider putting ads on their police cars and fire trucks.
Cities in need of additional revenue are tempted to sell advertising on their municipal vehicles, including police cars and fire trucks, but is the income worth the implementation costs and the likely controversy?
The mayor of Muncie, Indiana announced in August 2008 that she was considering the idea and questions immediately arose about the feasibility of the undertaking.
As one city councilwoman said, "the devil is in the details." Since those details will vary with each municipality, there is no one answer for all cities and towns.
Early questions in such cases:
- Which city vehicles will carry the ads? Will police and fire vehicles be included in the plan?
- Who will control the advertising? The mayor or the council?
- What kind of advertising will be accepted? Will alcohol and tobacco ads be accepted?
- Who will determine ad rates?
- Will rates be based on all municipal vehicles or on vehicle categories, such as police cars, within the fleet?
- Who will sell and implement the advertising?
- How will advertising competitors react to the plan?
- Will the advertising invite corruption?
- Is there really a market for such advertising?
- How much revenue will the ads produce? And how much will it cost to implement the program?
One other question: What will the advertising do to the image of the city, the police and the fire department?
Source: Indianapolis Star, August 10, 2008
Small Firms to Lead Green Movement
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Carroll Trosclair
Carroll Trosclair
While large firms promote the Green Marketing Coalition guidelines, one new firms says it is actually implementing environmental programs.
The Green Marketing Coalition (GMC), which is composed of giant firms like Microsoft, has offered direct mail companies a set of marketing guidelines to decrease the industry’s "carbon footprint." But at least one relatively small company says it has gone beyond guidelines into actual implementation of a sustainable green program.
The GMC guidelines won plaudits for good intentions, but were criticized by some environmentalists as being too vague, having no enforcement arm and providing few incentives to follow the guidelines.
Ely Fall, a member of the Business Development team at Bizcard.com, praised the GMC, but says it will be small companies that will "produce a significant and quantifiable impact on our environment." He refers to that impact as "sustainability."
Small firms working together can "make sustainability a necessity rather than just a fashionable word," he wrote in a comment on our recent article about the GMC.
He describes Bizcard as "a Green Seal certified print solutions company" which has been striving for sustainability since its inception in 2007.
"Mainly we provide green direct mail solutions as well as eco-friendly business cards, envelopes, letterheads and other print products," he wrote. "We have partnered with American Forests to help restore forestation."
Fall said the company designs cards that use 30 percent less paper and avoids the use of damaging photo processing chemicals..
"But we can and we must do more," he added.
Reference: Direct Mail Green Marketing
Posted by
Carroll Trosclair
Carroll Trosclair
The Humane Society and other animal support groups expressed outrage at a Verizon TV commercial but the company defends the spot as "over the top."
When the Humane Society, PETA, the ASPCA and other animal support groups protested Verizon’s snarling pit-bull commercial, a company spokeswoman said: "These are fictional ads, designed to be over-the-top, to break through the clutter and get our message across." That was her story and Verizon was sticking with it and the commercial.
As AdAge reported, the spot portrayed two "snarling pit bulls that leap to devour a guy, but fall short because of their chains." It was just what dog owners needed to revive the Michael Vick dog-fighting memories.
The Verizon response recalls what a gentlemanly professor of another era once told a dirty-mouth high school student. "It seems that you have such a limited vocabularly you must get down in the gutter to express your thoughts," he said.
That putdown would not have the impact today that it had on the student a few decades ago, but it suggested a question.
Getting Its Message Across
Was the Verizon spokesperson, in effect, saying that the best idea the company could develop to get its message across was to use a commercial that many people considered to be unfair, offensive and in very bad taste? In other words, if group sensitivity stands in the way of an organization’s best shot, then so be it.
Now Verizon can wallow in the success and attention of that bad taste and outrage because, as they thought, it broke through the clutter of all that more civilized advertising. Now, whenever someone sees a snarling pit-bull, they may well think of Verizon. That’s branding for you.
Wonder how many takes and how much intimidation of the dogs it took to get that video just right?
References:
As AdAge reported, the spot portrayed two "snarling pit bulls that leap to devour a guy, but fall short because of their chains." It was just what dog owners needed to revive the Michael Vick dog-fighting memories.
The Verizon response recalls what a gentlemanly professor of another era once told a dirty-mouth high school student. "It seems that you have such a limited vocabularly you must get down in the gutter to express your thoughts," he said.
That putdown would not have the impact today that it had on the student a few decades ago, but it suggested a question.
Getting Its Message Across
Was the Verizon spokesperson, in effect, saying that the best idea the company could develop to get its message across was to use a commercial that many people considered to be unfair, offensive and in very bad taste? In other words, if group sensitivity stands in the way of an organization’s best shot, then so be it.
Now Verizon can wallow in the success and attention of that bad taste and outrage because, as they thought, it broke through the clutter of all that more civilized advertising. Now, whenever someone sees a snarling pit-bull, they may well think of Verizon. That’s branding for you.
Wonder how many takes and how much intimidation of the dogs it took to get that video just right?
References:
- Sherry Mazzocchi, AdAge, July 21, 2008
- Matthew Creamer & Rupal Parekh, AdAge, July 28, 2008
Posted by
Carroll Trosclair
Carroll Trosclair
The Direct Marketing Hall of Famer says today’s television ads place too much emphasis on being clever and not enough on making the cash register ring.
Are your television commercials really trying to sell your products? Ron Bliwas, the president and CEO of A. Eicoff & Co., a Chicago subsidiary of Ogilvy & Mather, thinks that most commercials are not trying hard enough and some aren’t trying at all.
"By and large, most commercials are unable or unwilling to make the cash register ring," he wrote recently in an AdWeek article. There is too much emphasis on being clever, emotional, provocative or funny, instead of providing reasons to buy, he added.
Bliwas was inducted recently into the Direct Marketing Association Hall of Fame
and admits he is biased towards direct response advertising. But he expressed concern that "commercials today seem almost embarrassed to ask for the order, as if doing so might offend viewers' sensibilities."
He said agencies are "perfectly capable" of producing spots that sell, but added that they won’t do it unless they are directed to do so.
Commercials Can Qualify Viewers as Buyers
Bliwas said it may be difficult for a commercial to get the viewer to actually buy, but it can move him or her to take a "no-commitment" first step toward buying, like going to a website, making a phone call or visiting a store. That at least qualifies him or her as a worthy prospect.
Commercials should also include a reason or incentive for the viewer to act immediately, he said. To do all this, Bliwas said, advertisers may have to produce commercials longer than the standard 30-second spot.
He recalled some commercials being five or 10 minutes long in the early days of television.
Reference: AdWeek July 21, 2008
Entertaining and Funny Commercials
"By and large, most commercials are unable or unwilling to make the cash register ring," he wrote recently in an AdWeek article. There is too much emphasis on being clever, emotional, provocative or funny, instead of providing reasons to buy, he added.
Bliwas was inducted recently into the Direct Marketing Association Hall of Fame
and admits he is biased towards direct response advertising. But he expressed concern that "commercials today seem almost embarrassed to ask for the order, as if doing so might offend viewers' sensibilities."
He said agencies are "perfectly capable" of producing spots that sell, but added that they won’t do it unless they are directed to do so.
Commercials Can Qualify Viewers as Buyers
Bliwas said it may be difficult for a commercial to get the viewer to actually buy, but it can move him or her to take a "no-commitment" first step toward buying, like going to a website, making a phone call or visiting a store. That at least qualifies him or her as a worthy prospect.
Commercials should also include a reason or incentive for the viewer to act immediately, he said. To do all this, Bliwas said, advertisers may have to produce commercials longer than the standard 30-second spot.
He recalled some commercials being five or 10 minutes long in the early days of television.
Reference: AdWeek July 21, 2008
Entertaining and Funny Commercials
TV Product Placements in Spotlight
Posted by
Carroll Trosclair
Carroll Trosclair
The controlversy over television’paid product placements has lingered primarily in industry and government circles but may now win more viewer attention.
The New York Times has brought the lingering controversy over paid product placements out of the industry-government closet and into the viewers’ world. Stephanie Clifford dragged the subject front and center July 14 in an article titled "Product Placements Acquire a Life of their Own on Shows."
Accompanied by a sketch of George Washington holding a bottle of Coke, the article detailed the growth of product placements from simple game show prizes to carefully-placed photos and sections of scrpt in today’s top-rated program--for payments of $100,000 and more.
Admittedly the article appeared n the paper’s "Business Day" section, but it is on the front page of the section, which draws readers from far beyond the business community.
The article may generate additional input into the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) upcoming hearings on paid product placements. The FCC is asking whether paid placements require tougher disclosure rules.
TV Product Placement Rules
Drug Placements in TV Programs
Accompanied by a sketch of George Washington holding a bottle of Coke, the article detailed the growth of product placements from simple game show prizes to carefully-placed photos and sections of scrpt in today’s top-rated program--for payments of $100,000 and more.
Admittedly the article appeared n the paper’s "Business Day" section, but it is on the front page of the section, which draws readers from far beyond the business community.
The article may generate additional input into the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) upcoming hearings on paid product placements. The FCC is asking whether paid placements require tougher disclosure rules.
TV Product Placement Rules
Drug Placements in TV Programs
Posted by
Carroll Trosclair
Carroll Trosclair
Pricey report says celebs are the least trusted of all company spokespersons but they’re still being paid millions of dollars for their endorsements.
A new case study of celebrity advertising is likely to stir new interest in what has become a major gambling business—risking your reputation on a television, movie, music or sports star. The report is called "Cult of Celebrity."
In its promotion of the report, the publisher says celebrities are "the least trusted of all company/brand spokespersons." That would seem to carry more than adequate warning to avoid them, but the report adds that the celebrities still draw millions of dollars for lending their names to products.
According to the publisher, the "Cult of Celebrity" provides "strategic conclusions and actionable recommendations on effectively harnesssing the power of celebrity endorsement and branding." In other words, you can’t trust them but here’s how to hire them.
Special reports on celebrity advertising have been around almost as long as celebrities have, pointing to the attention that celebrities like Tiger Woods can command, to the risks of associating a brand with them and to difficulty of predicting and measuring return on investment.
At $2,250, the PDF report by DataMonitor is itself something of a gamble. But then that’s peanuts when you’re dealing with the big bucks that celebrities negotiate these days.
In its promotion of the report, the publisher says celebrities are "the least trusted of all company/brand spokespersons." That would seem to carry more than adequate warning to avoid them, but the report adds that the celebrities still draw millions of dollars for lending their names to products.
According to the publisher, the "Cult of Celebrity" provides "strategic conclusions and actionable recommendations on effectively harnesssing the power of celebrity endorsement and branding." In other words, you can’t trust them but here’s how to hire them.
Special reports on celebrity advertising have been around almost as long as celebrities have, pointing to the attention that celebrities like Tiger Woods can command, to the risks of associating a brand with them and to difficulty of predicting and measuring return on investment.
At $2,250, the PDF report by DataMonitor is itself something of a gamble. But then that’s peanuts when you’re dealing with the big bucks that celebrities negotiate these days.
Confidence Index Drops to 50.4
Posted by
Carroll Trosclair
Carroll Trosclair
The Conference Board described its June 2008 report as "dismal." Business, job and income expectations were all down.
The Conference Board had more bad news for advertisers in late June, announcing that its monthly Consumer Confidence Index had plunged another 7.7%. That was its fifth lowest level ever. The index fell from 58.1 in May to 50.4 in June, just over half its 100 base in 1985.
Even more discouraging, the Board said its Expectations Index fell from 47.3 in May to 41.0 in June, an all-time low.
"Perhaps the silver lining to this otherwise dismal report is that Consumer Confidence may be nearing a bottom," the Board said in its monthly report June 24.
Other consumer opinions from its June survey:
Source: Conference Board News Release June 24, 2008
Even more discouraging, the Board said its Expectations Index fell from 47.3 in May to 41.0 in June, an all-time low.
"Perhaps the silver lining to this otherwise dismal report is that Consumer Confidence may be nearing a bottom," the Board said in its monthly report June 24.
Other consumer opinions from its June survey:
- Business conditions are "bad"-- 32.5%, up from 29.7%
- Business conditions are "good"-- 11.5%, down from 13%
- Job are "hard to get"-- 30.5%, up from 28.3%
- Jobs are plentiful – 14.1%, down from 16,1%
- Business conditions will worsen over the next six months -- 33.9%, up from 32.9%
- Business conditions will improve--8.8%, down from 10.6%
- Expect fewer jobs in the months ahead -- 35.5%, up from 32.3%
- Expect more jobs -- 8%, down from 9.0%
- Expect their incomes to increase -- 12.3%, down from 14.1%
Source: Conference Board News Release June 24, 2008
Posted by
Carroll Trosclair
Carroll Trosclair
Lawyers are probably talking to one another in those unreadable messages that flash on our TV sets and they don’t want us to know what they’re saying.
The ruckus being raised over disclosure notices for television product placements raises a broader question: Who can, or needs to, read all that small type that runs on TV?
The Federal Communications Commission has issued a notification of proposed rulemaking on product placements. Right now the FCC allows the disclosures for such advertising to be run in small print along with the credits at the end of the programs.
Four Percent for Four Seconds
At least one FCC commisson acknowledges that most viewers never see the notices. The agency may require the product disclosures to be similar to those for political sponsors, which must run for four seconds and be displayed in type at least four percent of the height of the television screen. On a typical 51-inch screen, that’s about one inch high.
Four seconds is probably long enough and four percent is probably large enough to read if you’re really looking for the information. It’s like the small print in insurance policies; it’s there to cover legal obligations but not necessarily to be read.
Writers Want ‘Real Time’ Disclosures
The Writers Guild of America, whose members don’t like being pressured to write products into their scripts, have a bolder, unrealistic recommendation for the FCC: Run the product disclosures in "real time" at the bottom of the screen.
"X-Company paid us to show X-brand of cola in the above scene."
Networks, programmers and advertisers flash a lot of other small type on the screen that hardly anyone can read. As we learned from newspaper and magazine ads, small print in advertising is mostly lawyer talk, but it can be important. To see what they’re saying in the TV small print, we’ll have to tape, pause and squint at it.
Posted by
Carroll Trosclair
Carroll Trosclair
Here are a few billboard observations made while driving across a couple of states.
Some organizations seem to be wasting money on billboards these days, some by writing too much copy, some by trying to be too clever and some by violating basic graphic rules. Writing great billboard ad copy is not easy, but following a few elementary guidelines will at least produce readable advertising.
We saw numerous violations of those guidelines while driving across a couple of states recently.
Clever But Unredable Copy
One billboard said: "Not dumped yet?" That got our attention, but even driving at a legal 70 miles per hour on the Interstate, we were unable to read the rest of the story, including the name of the advertiser. We doubt those drivers passing us at 80 mph could read it either. Reading speed does not necessarily match driving speed.
Another board said: "The ‘T’ stands for luxury." We assume the advertiser’s name started with a "T" but we were not able to read it.
In both of these cases, the clever headlines were in large readable type. But the rest of the messages, including the advertisers’ names, were too small to be read in the few seconds we were able to devote to the billboard.
Those are common problems. There are so many billboards out there now that they compete for the few seconds that we can (or should) shift our eyes off the road in all that fast-moving traffic.
Keep It Short, Big and Simple
Even when traffic was slower and less adventurous, ad experts recommended billboard copy be limited to seven words. Many advertisers ignore that rule these days.
Suggestion: Keep the copy short. Keep it big, especially the name. Keep the graphics simple.
Billboard companies can provide help in designing readable boards. Clients can help themselves by listening to their advice.
Mobile Billboard Advertising
We saw numerous violations of those guidelines while driving across a couple of states recently.
Clever But Unredable Copy
One billboard said: "Not dumped yet?" That got our attention, but even driving at a legal 70 miles per hour on the Interstate, we were unable to read the rest of the story, including the name of the advertiser. We doubt those drivers passing us at 80 mph could read it either. Reading speed does not necessarily match driving speed.
Another board said: "The ‘T’ stands for luxury." We assume the advertiser’s name started with a "T" but we were not able to read it.
In both of these cases, the clever headlines were in large readable type. But the rest of the messages, including the advertisers’ names, were too small to be read in the few seconds we were able to devote to the billboard.
Those are common problems. There are so many billboards out there now that they compete for the few seconds that we can (or should) shift our eyes off the road in all that fast-moving traffic.
Keep It Short, Big and Simple
Even when traffic was slower and less adventurous, ad experts recommended billboard copy be limited to seven words. Many advertisers ignore that rule these days.
Suggestion: Keep the copy short. Keep it big, especially the name. Keep the graphics simple.
Billboard companies can provide help in designing readable boards. Clients can help themselves by listening to their advice.
Mobile Billboard Advertising