The thoughts and ramblings of an English Bull Terrier working in a communications agency...
Even though these two articles have conflicting headlines, they do highlight one point, the importance of Trust.
Trust is important in marketing and is proven to be wanting by consumers, as these articles clearly show. Consumers are now voting with their feet by embracing events, experiential and social media. Disciplines which have Trust at their core.
The ‘increased’ trust talked about in these articles was linked to businesses listening to consumers needs. ‘Honesty’, ‘sincerity’, and the ability to ‘talk back’ and be ‘listened to’ by brands are new concepts for our Industry but are vital in building TRUST.
I’m all up for a laugh but this ad takes it too far. I can’t see the ‘Christmas Appeal’ of WKDs ad, this is the time of year when we all should be pulling together to make a difference. The so called ‘tongue and cheek’ ad does a disservice to not just my canine buddies but also my feline comrades, who are abandoned across the country every year. All the hard work charities and volunteers give to animals for a better life and WKD is making alcohol more important than our lives. How did this make it out of the boardroom?! I think this ad belongs on a ‘certain’ Australian shock jock radio station!!
Why are large agencies laying foundations below the line…?
At first glance it may seem like large ATL agencies and media planning agencies are moving into the event and experiential space for economic reasons: The sector is still growing and returning good margins after all. But why is the sector growing? What needs are driving this growth? And is there something other than profit behind the motivation for the big agencies suddenly embracing their smaller cousins? In fact it could well be a consumer psychological need rather than a material want that is underpinning this industry shift.
The integration and diversification of the marketing mix in recent years has led to the industry being governed by a new set of principles. The ‘supply and demand’ economics that rule consumer products now also influence the very disciplines that are employed to market the products themselves…. In other words marketers plan media campaigns according to the audience’s consumption of media - planning neutrally as its known. Therefore consumers, by virtue of their media consumption are in fact driving the success of certain marketing industry sectors. Consumers have become the unlikely new architects of the industry, and it is the reactive or neutral planning model that has empowered them to this position. A market driven marketing self-fulfilling prophecy if you will!
The fact that consumers are voting with their feet by embracing Events, Experiential & Social media eludes to their favor and value of the disciplines and what they stand for. We have within Experiential & Social characteristics that aren’t normally associated with the marketing industry. ‘Honesty’, ‘sincerity’, and the ability to ‘talk back’ and be ‘listened to’ by brands are new concepts for the Industry but are intrinsic to this new breed of discipline.
To learn more about why this shift is happening now, we need to turn to the past. Back in the 1950‘s -the glory days of Television, the agencies had so much latitude when creating brand messages as regulation was practically unheard of. This economy with the truth has continued to a lesser extent up to the present day, and the casualty of this creative license is consumer trust. The net result being that now circa 81% of people don’t trust the advertising industry [reader digest]. The dishonest admen have killed the golden TV! Trust has gone. It is this erosion of trust combined with the basic innate human need to make trust based decisions, including purchase decisions, that has fueled the surge of trust based marketing disciplines such as Experiential Marketing and Social Media.
These new disciplines encourage a conversation with consumers rather than subjecting them to a broadcast and so dictate that the advertising industry should get real and smarten up it’s approach. The use of experiential work in TV treatments like the Coldgate Sensitive Pro Relief Challenge are proof of the industry’s desired to inject sincerity and trust back into it’s work. Although much of the work appears to be staged, which isn’t really the point.
One recent example from our agency where the experiential work was used in the TV treatment came about with Ubisoft’s real guitar game: Rocksmith. We were able to use the testimonials and footage from the festival experiential tour in the TV treatments with no staging, real consumers and no prepping or prompting - just raw footage spliced into the creative. The ‘real’ feel and appearance adds to the Ad’s credibility and build more trust with the consumer.
The fact that large planning and buying agencies as well as big Ad Agencies are now setting up their own Experiential divisions or acquiring independents has as much to do I wager with their desire to bring Trust back to their core, as it is about adding to the bottom line. And frankly this can only be a good thing for the industry and for ordinary consumers.
Not saying that we’re the dog’s bollocks or anything… but we were chuffed to win Gold and Bronze at the Brand Experience Awards the other night! Well done team!
This is a good thing for all mankind: The huge steaming dog turd of a creative that is Martin Clunes association with the Churchill ads is no more! I can’t think of a better way to start the weekend than knowing that I won’t be subjected to those tragically bad and woefully unfunny treatments again. The fact that Clunes ever agreed to do them in the first place is either a testimony to his total lack of nouse, or his total lack of talent - probably both. If I ever see that inanely annoying dog in my neighbourhood he’ll need health insurance!
“Should Martin have driven a bit slower Churchill? Oooooh yes, yes yes yes yes!”
I like this. Great piece of experience led marketing. A good stunt to produce compelling content that works virally. Also golf is a sport that is played by people who can spend north of £200k on a car… so well thought out… Woof Woof!
We like the honest vibes and the astute observations made by this cat at Saatchi and Saatchi… Particularly like the ‘Return on Involvement’ reference… At our agency we are in the middle of making a film about the state of the industry… the lack of Trust and the need for agencies to get real with people… in the meantime… Kevin Roberts we Salute you sir!
I think this makes a great deal of sense, and is entirely logical. We should ban celebrities and cartoon characters from advertising fatty products to children immediately. Who in their right mind would argue against this?! That is apart from Gary Lineker, Kerry Katona et al. It’s also salient that when describing their product McDonalds focus on ‘food safety’ and ‘customer service’ - Not the food or the quality of the food. Hmmm something possibly just may be afoot here?! Who knew?
Three words: patronising, empty & contrived. It’s a self serving orgy of misrepresentation and contradiction…. The gratuitous shoe-horning of quotes from the likes of Helen Keller, Gandhi, Abe lincoln etc makes me wanna bring up my dinner [it was tuna btw - Nice!]. What have any of the people quoted got to do with Nike? Or running? Or sport for that matter!?! It is convenient and I am guessing strategic that they are all dead - Dead can’t sue! There is also the rather enormous own goal that in attempting to do all of this in 10 days would inevitably lead to spending more time in airports and on planes than actually enjoying the locations; hardly ‘making it count’ !! More slaving to cliched and outdated stereotypes. This film has about as much substance as a poodle with a perm! Has Nike no awareness of depth or integrity? If they really wanted to ‘make it count’: Do something original that actually benefits real fans of the brand! For the price of this film, they could have most likely built something lasting that gives birth to the same intended essence - but that actually makes a difference. Instead they have fulfilled a dream brief for an already successful and privileged NYC film maker [with his own show on HBO no less]. The fact that you could easily swap in a host of other brands [Coke Zero, Pepsi Max, Adidas] means that it doesn’t hit the mark. Nike: next time please do make it count… [ PS : I am not even going to mention the carbon footprint!].
Had a bit of a set back with my latest pedicure: ended up loosing a claw! Anyway it’s a lot of fuss about nothing to be honest - and I don’t miss it. Apparently it will grow back - whatever.
Does anyone out there know how to successfully unsubscribe from the International Confex?!?! Not that I ever actually subscribed! I don’t even know what they do down there - but imagine it to be a natural home for the elderly version of Alan Patridge co presenting with Alan Tichmarsh…. International Confex pls go away and leave my kennel alone!
Perhaps COKE should have built a playground for the local kids in Hackney, instead of forcing this brutal commercialism on them instead….? Their patronising attempt to use the medium of street art has back fired like a starting gun as practically every Graf artist in East London is lining up to destroy the piece… If only they had employed a lighter touch, and involved the people of the area [who are all pissed off with this overly large branded wall]. COKE: it’s about the journey, not the destination… Fail of Olympian standards…
1. Companies whose name is an adjective?! It’s getting a bit ‘lame’ guys…
2. The treatment of people as idiots through the use of Social Media… The worst offenders are from the Alcohol sector [I’m thinking Vodka]: Just because you have 500k+ of people to talk to does little to turn some Junior Digital Monkey into Confucius… Much less a witty and original commentator.. More a patronising marketing sycophant, no doubt dribbling into their skinny soy vanilla latte!
3. The look on that cute pugs face, when I chase her round the park;)
4. The use of experiential activity in TV adverts which seems to be exclusively naff and lacking in any balls! Im thinking a toothpaste ad for sensitive teeth and some Ad for womens wipes etc… Yawn.
5. Award Ceremonies whose thin vail of altruism is finally starting to slip - to reveal a more sophist annual fundraising exercise for the CEO. Whoever would have guessed?!?
6. The seemingly unquenchable Olympic Committee apetite to endorse products which keep the Nation FAT! Coke, McDonalds, Walkers etc… Whats next? Land Mines to sponsor the Paralympics? Or actual product placement on the tracks: A giant McDonlads straw to replace the ‘finishing tape’ and a each participant to be forced to drink a milkshake post each race?
7. Gary Linekar. Would we have let good old ‘Des Lynam’ sponsor Ginsters Pies while waxing lyrical on Grandstand!? I think not…. He is also widely reputed as being a total large male hen.
8. The greed which has infected the football industry, and the apparently unwavering working class fans who seem to have no problem financially supporting these overpaid nihilists. Like the male black widow spider: they give their all, seemingly unaware that the focus of their lust is about to devour them.
Here’s the view from my pad - it’s a Penthouse Kennel. This way I can keep an eye on the city for my commentary, and sublimely, it also goes down rather well with the bitches. WIN WIN I hear you say!? Yes - rather…
Here’s me at 9 weeks old. I’ve always looked at the world with an inquisitive stare, wanting to question and explore everything…and not just with my nose either! Us Bull Terriers are actually quite bright you know! We just can’t shake the bad rep you see: I mean, you ‘kill a few bulls’ and they label you a monster! Still…. c’est la vie I suppose. Bloody fascists! I think one of my resolutions this year will be to scare more Aristotelean conservatives than last year…
Rehearsing for my headline set with Snoop Doggy Dog at Lovebox 2011…. What an honour. His seminal album Doggystyle was a real turning point in my adolescence! It’s most def a Dog Pound Thang… Oh - yeah I brought my Just Dance Disco Bus to the festival as well… they love it at Lovebox.
This is what happens when you enjoy the doggy brew a little too much… I was chatting to this super cute Rhodesian Ridge back [i like em big] and it all went pear shaped… I just couldn’t keep up. Still, had a bloody good time in hot pursuit. I have no memory of getting home whatsoever - blimey!
