The Real Housewives of Marketing: Quality Ideas Still Trump Statistics

It’s one of the major moral dilemmas of creative work: do you go with the data, or go with your gut?

According to cliché, those who favor the former will go on to successful careers, sleep on a soft bed of $100 bills, and suffer from an incurable feeling of moral emptiness. The latter will experience artistic satisfaction, until they eventually die from a combination of starvation and heartbreak over feeling unappreciated.

But if you’re eager to say, “Sounds good to me... Just give me the money!” you might be interested in my recent epiphany about successful creative work: opportunistic creations rarely survive. When things are intended to be popular, they rarely are. At least, not for very long.

As comedian Bill Burr recently observed, “When was the last time you bought a box set of a reality show? I don’t think they exist. That’s why they’re, like, disposable. That’s like the Bic lighter of fucking television shows.”

If you just look at the data, Real Housewives of Such-and-Such is pretty popular right now, but just doesn’t stick in people’s minds quite like Seinfeld.

This is why, if done the right way, sincerity and creativity aren’t just more satisfying than hackery. They make more money. A lot more, in fact.

As marketers, we are supposed to be the creative side of business. We’re expected to find the heart and soul of a product, and then express it to the public in a way that makes them connect with it. But are we losing our creativity? Replacing it with stats and marketing data that makes us sound smart. (“Males in our demo like cars! What the hell, can’t we get a cool car in this picture!?!?”)

www.toothpastefordinner.com

John Hegarty seems to think so. The founder of Bartle Bogle Hegarty recently made news at Advertising Week Europe, when he expressed his belief that, as the technology that delivers advertising becomes more exciting, the creative end of the business is becoming complacent in response.

Today’s big data can help you customize your marketing content specifically for males age 39-47 who are interested in ice fishing. But… IS YOUR CONTENT ANY GOOD?

Here’s my personal philosophy toward data. Know it. Learn every fact and statistic you can comfortably cram into your brain. Then… don’t use any of it. Take a step back. Don’t think about the little details for a moment. Relax, enjoy a cup of coffee. And then, maybe you’ll start to see the thing that you missed while you were focused on the finer details: the story. The one Big Idea behind it all.

Here’s an example. Ironically, New Think Creative is tasked with promoting Big Data itself. One of our clients is an enormous aggregator of consumer information. We know lots of impressive data about our data giant. The millions of consumers they’ve collected information on! Their many terabytes of data storage!

But then, how many terabytes is a lot? Five terabytes? Five billion terabytes? Do you even care?

They have a story that’s even bigger than their data, and it’s something we call Smart Data. You see, this company doesn’t just collect information. They analyze the data and use it to make predictions (i.e., will a customer pay you back if you lend him money?). Anyone can find data. They know the data. That’s their story, their identity.

And if you know any businesses that are looking to express their identity, you might want to send them our way. We’re sure to find something that will last longer than the next season of Real Housewives.

Samsung to Apple: "How's it feel to be The Man?"

I thought about calling this post “The Ascent of Apple: Textbook Hippie Tech.” But I was afraid only a small percentage of people would get the reference. Then again, if Samsung has done anything right, going obscure might be a good thing.

From an advertising perspective, the Oscars are something of a sequel to the Super Bowl: the next big event-television moment that can make or break an advertising campaign. (Apparently, the Oscars have taken on the moniker of “The Super Bowl for Women.” Which is strange, considering the real Super Bowl for Women is probably still, um, the Super Bowl.)

For me, the starkest Super Bowl/Oscars ad connection seemed to be Samsung’s Tim Burton spot, which is a fitting companion to the Paul Rudd/Seth Rogan spot which ran during the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl ad:

At New Think Creative, we loved it. Definitely a highlight of the ads that night. But on the Ad Meter, it finished near the middle of the pack. What went wrong? Well, possibly nothing.

Much as the GoDaddy gross-out ad may have been engineered to offend, the Samsung ad may have been engineered to exclude. While many of us were giddy over seeing Rudd and Rogan featured in a high-profile ad, those actors have a certain in-crowd vibe which goes under the radar for a lot of viewers. It’s possible that a large portion of the country watched the ad, turned to their friends, and said, “Who the hell were those guys?”

Was this a mistake? Or a concerted effort to cast stars who only the “cool people” would know?

At the Oscars, we got our answer:

Anecdotal reviews were similar to the Super Bowl ad: “I really like it… But are you sure everyone even knows who Tim Burton is?”

First the Rogan/Rudd ad. Now this:

·         Tim Burton.

·         Zombie Unicorns.

·         Unshaven guys with floofy hair wearing ties.

·         LOTS of people wearing glasses.

It can’t be a coincidence that this hipster-centered campaign comes in the aftermath of Steve Jobs’s death and the perceived stagnation of new innovations at Apple.

In this century, Apple has owned the “only the coolest kids have it” image. But although it was recently their greatest strength, the in-crowd chic has become the thing that Apple lacks. Apple is the establishment, now. Your dad owns an iPhone/iPad because it’s the only smartphone/tablet he’s heard of. Not cool, man.

Samsung’s new ads may have missed the mark with mainstream America. But they may not care. Believe it or not, they may be aiming mostly for the people who think different.

The challenge of social media: You can lead a horse to your marketing, but you can't make him retweet it

At New Think Creative, we recently had a prospective client who decided he didn’t, in fact, need any help with his social media marketing. The reason? His nephew knew how to tweet, so he could handle the business’s social media campaign. (We don’t know the name of the nephew, but we’ve affectionately dubbed him Sheldon. He’s simply adorable.)

You could say this makes us feel the same way a contractor would feel if a home owner told him, “I don’t need to hire you after all, since I just found out I can borrow a backhoe.”

Acquiring the right tools doesn’t always require professional help. Using them is a different story. That is, if you don’t want your nephew Sheldon to accidentally put a hydraulic metal arm through the roof of your car.

Alicia Keys doesn’t get paid because she can sing, and Justin Verlander doesn’t get paid because he can throw a baseball. Almost anyone can do those things. They are valuable because they can sing, or throw a ball, effectively.

Social media is so mainstream, we almost take it for granted that everyone is savvy by now. But as it turns out, many smart, successful businesspeople have yet to fully understand what’s going on. So you have a Twitter account for your business? In 2013? I guess you’re cutting edge now. No further effort required.

Having social media is no longer an edge. It’s a basic requirement. The edge comes when you can use it effectively. It can be just background noise. Or it can be an immediate, intimate way to connect with your customers.

For example, the Oreo cookie brand had a recent social media breakthrough during this year’s infamous Super Bowl blackout. For 34 minutes, the nation was frozen in front of the television, wondering when the Super Dome lights would come back on. Someone decided to act fast. Within those 34 minutes, they gave the Twittersphere something to react to:

Simple. Immediately relevant. Most importantly, it makes people want to tell their friends, “Hey, have you seen this?” And so it was retweeted 16,000 times.

This is the “social” element of social media. You can’t just talk. It has to provoke a reaction. Your customer base needs to enjoy it, seek it out, share it. That doesn’t happen when you just talk at people… but then, I’m sure Sheldon has it all under control. Doesn’t he?

Here are New Think Creative’s 4 golden rules for social media marketing:

1. Be creative. Be out there, outrageous, and buzz-worthy. Just like everyday life, you have to be interesting, enticing, and thought-provoking to get and hold people's attention, and to make them want to pass your content along! Talk their talk. Walk their walk. 

2. Be creative and know that media successes are often the result of well-coordinated effort.  Make sure all your social media messages are creatively conceived, well-orchestrated, and stay on point every time, in every media.

3. Be creative and patient.  Social media is a slow game. Know that every tweet or post won't be perfect.  You are building a community that will come together with varying opinions or points of view. Manage it, but let it breath. Don’t just screw the negatives… learn from them. It’s a great way to make your next tweet or email (or whatever) work better.

4. Be creative. Fire Sheldon. Hire New Think Creative.

Last place is a big victory for this Super Bowl ad

At my Super Bowl party, the early ads failed to draw much attention from my companions. The commercial breaks lacked a certain “Super Bowl atmosphere.” We often talked over them, almost as though they were typical, non-essential breaks in the middle of a television show.

And then… we saw GoDaddy’s spot starring Bar Rafaeli and Danica Patrick.

Everybody stopped talking. We watched in silence.

Everyone HATED it.

Is it offensive? It’s at least awkward. Personally, I just started thinking about what will become of the poor guy who plays “Walter.” It must be rough to live out all your years knowing the undisputed best day of your life is already behind you.

The spot was universally abhorred, finishing dead last onthe USA Today Ad Meter. And therefore, it is potentially a smashing success.

The worst fate for a Super Bowl commercial is to get lost in the shuffle. Seen as mediocre. Ignored, as Super Bowl partygoers choose to discuss Joe Flacco’s passing accuracy instead of paying attention to your spot.

GoDaddy’s shockingly low approval ratings earn extra PR, which equates to more free advertising and name recognition for GoDaddy. Which is really all they want.

Not everyone can get away with this approach. If you’re JP Morgan, looking crass isn’t worth the extra attention. But as someone who has bought a domain name from GoDaddy, I can attest to the fact I don’t need to like them or trust their aesthetic judgments. I just need my brain to remember the name of a business that will get me a domain name. And GoDaddy’s name is out there. Way, way out there.

Getting out of "attack mode" in the social media age

Last week, Janet Lyons wrote me this email about Lance Armstrong:

"I have noticed most of the tweeting that has gone on during his Oprah interview is very negative. Now that could be because he is hateful, or it could be because it is simply more fun to be snarky and negative in the tweeting world."

There was definitely a lot of animosity in the air among people holding strong opinions on Lance Armstrong. I have my own thoughts on Lance, but most people seem to fall into one of two schools of thought:

1. I am angry at Lance Armstrong.

2. I am angry at people who are angry at Lance Armstrong.

Tweets about "lance armstrong"

Twitter is a pretty effective vehicle for negative thoughts. As forms of communication get shorter (from articles, to blog posts, to microblogging), are we getting meaner? There's a reason why the word "short" can mean "obnoxious." As in, "Why are you getting short with me?"

We all want to be funny and smart. Which makes it tough to remain calm, friendly, and charitable within 140 characters. One-liners tend to be the territory of the insult comic.

I wish I could claim to be innocent of this, but I can see myself gravitating into the same habits. I used to do it in school. If you want to write a paper that's quick and short, just criticize something you read. Proposing new ideas is hard work. Attacking other people is easy. It's really hard to be (1) terse, (2) clever, and (3) POSITIVE at the same time.

After all, short, positive phrases are often attacked as cheesy…

This instinct has carried over into my professional life in advertising. For example, I recently had to write copy for the front of a postcard. The challenge in this assignment was that I had maybe 20 words to get across a pretty complex concept in a clever, amusing way. Queue those natural tweeting instincts. I proposed that the front of the postcard depict someone doing the OPPOSITE of our message. The copy would then cut him down. "Don't be that guy!" was the message.

The idea was quickly rejected by the client. "We're looking for a positive message," was the response.

Ugh, I thought. So I guess we're doing this the hard way.

But this is what the partners for New Think have been doing their whole lives: coming up with short, clever, POSITIVE phrases to describe clients (see: Have It Your Way, We Bring Good Things To Life, We Love To Fly and It Shows, Life Takes Visa). It's easy to be smart when you're tearing something down, whether it's Lance Armstrong or Hot Pockets. It's much harder to be clever while promoting something positively. It’s something that's not taught very often in school these days… and even less often on Twitter.

Great internet campaigns make you... stop using the internet for a second.

Yesterday, a particular banner ad caught my eye. It was for an online dating site whose catchphrase was “the offline dating site” (the implication being that you might actually meet someone in person). I Googled it and the reviews said the site’s no good... And yes, I might have otherwise considered using it. Stop judging me.

So no dates for me :-(. But I started thinking about web campaigns that aim to actually get people off the computer (the nicotine gum of websites, if you will). Isn't that the idea though? Depending on the goal of your promotion, customers are going to have to take their face out of the screen at some point.

To that point, I’ve been trying for a while to figure out an excuse to write about one of my favorite concepts in social media campaigns: the alternate reality game. The most famous example is probably I Love Bees, an alternate reality game played in 2004 which was intended to hype the Halo 2 video game.

The phenomenon began when with some viral distribution of the url http://www.ilovebees.com/ (still active!). Purportedly someone’s personal webpage about beekeeping, the site bears all the signatures of amateur web design, right down to the annoying animated .gif of a cartoon bee. But upon visiting the site, it appears to be afflicted by a severely freaky-deeky virus or hack.

This is the impetus for a radio drama story, told in audio files posted to the site. The plot involves an alien artificial intelligence which is trapped inside the site. The site also gave players a set of global coordinates with no explanation of what they meant. Players discovered that the coordinates referred to the locations of pay phones, and the dates and times when the phones would ring. Players who answered the calls at the prescribed times got the opportunity to speak with story characters, and have their conversations recorded as part of the radio drama. Eventually, the game included Halo plot points and the "winners" were invited to a pre-release party for the game.

How freakin' cool. Everything old is new again, and whether or not you realize it, the coolest thing this century might actually be... pay phones? Well, no. But ironically, the most innovative social media tools of tomorrow's internet might be those which can actually get your face out of a screen in order to have a real life adventure in the "outside" world.

This is an important point to remember regarding the continued survival of movie theaters. With the success of NetFlix and the advancement of home entertainment, no one needs a theater just to see movies. But your house just isn't an adventure. Something needs to get you out.

This is part of the simple appeal behind New Think's "flash screening"promotion for Insidious. Any movie is a movie. But a one-time-only chance to go to a pre-release screening at midnight... Now, that's the adventure.

Today, we have access to everything we want, at the touch of a button, right here in the comfort of our homes. And you know what? It kinda sucks. Find a way to drag people out of their homes, and they just might thank you for it.

Pinterest teaches you how to pick up the chicks

Apparently, Pinterest shares a couple of parallels with the hottest nightclub imaginable.  Specifically, (1) you have to wait to get in if you don't already know someone inside, and (2) once you're in, 80% of the people there are women.

When I attempted to sign up for an account, I received this email:

Hi!
Thanks for requesting an invite. We'll be sure to send one soon.
In the meantime, feel free to explore a few pins.
We're excited to get you pinning soon!
—Ben and the Pinterest Team

What the hell are they doing in the meantime???  Every other mass social site creates your account instantly upon a single click.  Are they running a background check, based solely on my e-mail address?

An e-mail confirmation makes sense to confirm that the e-mail I've given is real.  But why the delay?

From The Social Network:

Tyler Winklevoss: The difference between what we're talking about and MySpace or Friendster or any of those other social networking sites…

Mark Zuckerberg: Is exclusivity.

Also consider:

"I don't want to belong to any club that will accept people like me as a member."
---Groucho Marx

Again, from The Social Network:

Eduardo Saverin: People had the ability to invite, or not invite, their friends to join.  See, in a world where social structure was everything, that was THE thing.

Now that Facebook has taken over the world, the "college kids only,” "invite only” structure is out.  Everyone thinks they need a Facebook profile anyway (and you do, don't you?), so there's no need for a manufactured "this club is for cool people only” phenomenon.  But I'm pretty sure the strategy still holds.  Despite Pinterest's supposed obstacles that prevent people from joining up, it has become the quickest growing new social networking site of all time, with about 12 million users.  Some exclusivity, huh?

It's the oldest trick in the book.  You can give something away for free, but no one will want it.  Tell people they can't have it, and suddenly they will pay dearly for it.  If you advertise that your club would like more members, no one will join.  Announce that your club is full, and people will be desperate to get on the "waiting list.”

So now I'm like a pretty girl that's given my phone number out to this cool new guy Pinterest, but I'm not going to get an invite right away.  Cool guys wait before calling you.  Tell ‘em, Trent:

As I know from someone who's already on Pinterest, I'll soon get a couple more e-mails:

From first e-mail:

You're in!
I'm excited to invite you to join Pinterest, a social catalog. I can't wait to have you join our little community.

From second e-mail:

Hi ______!,
YOU are the newest member of Pinterest, a community to share collections of things you love. We're excited to have you as a member and can't wait to see what you pin.

A few tips to get the most out of Pinterest:

[cropped]

- Pin carefully! As one of the first members of Pinterest, your pins will help set the tone for the whole community. Use big images, write thoughtful descriptions, and pin things you really love. Also, no nudity :)

Thanks for joining and happy pinning!

- Ben and the Pinterest Team

This is exciting. I'll be one of the very, very first [12 million or so] inside their little [12 million or so] community!

The internet may have changed the venue and technology of social networking, but social dynamics haven't really changed at all since you were a child.  Ultimately, if you want to be the leader of the Cool Kids Club, you have to make people fight to get inside it.  Hats off to Ben Silbermann and Pinterest for keeping their cool, and not inviting the hot chicks too soon.  I think it's working.