globeandmail.com: The Hard Sell

Marketers need to give up control, Edelman says

Keith McArthur, 01/06/07 at 10:37 AM EDT

I chatted yesterday with Richard Edelman, a pioneer in online public relations.

Edelman, the CEO of the public relations firm bearing his father's name, was blogging long before most of us, and when I spoke with him in March, 2005 (link here) he was already talking about how the Web was pushing journalists out of their central role in public relations.

(On a sidenote -- it’s interesting to me that in that story from just two years ago, the term "blog" had not yet entered common lexicon. I had to explain in the story that blog was short for Web log, a form of online journal.)

Edelman, speaking at the mesh Web conference in Toronto, told the audience that businesses need to accept that there are now two, equally important lines of communications: the traditional vertical axis, and the new peer-to-peer horizontal axis. He said the horizontal axis requires that companies be willing to give up some of the control over their brands.

"The key thing is to pursuade companies that you have to give up control of the message," he said.

When I asked him about Charles Fremes, the former president of Edelman Canada who died suddenly on May 7, he became visibly choked up. Fremes, he said, served as the firm's chief diplomat, helping to offset the CEO's spontaneity. More than once, Fremes called him up to suggest he should be more cautious with his public comments.

"This one affects me terribly," Edelman told me of Fremes' death. "I try not to be friends with the people I work with because you have to keep your distance, but Charles was really a good friend of mine. It's an exception. He was like my older brother."

Want to text2win? It's going to cost you

Keith McArthur, 29/05/07 at 2:19 PM EDT

I couldn't make it to last night's Canadian New Media Awards, but I met some of the finalists at a lunch yesterday, including Jacqueline Jung of Fjord Interactive in Vancouver who won the designer of the year award.

The new media company of the year award went to mobile marketing company MyThum Interactive.

The company has run campaigns for brands including Molson, Best Buy, Nike and Nokia. Part of what they do is text to win campaigns, but they can't refer to them as such. I was fascinated to learn recently that "text to win" and text2win are registered trademarks in Canada licensed to The Mobile Content Company (MCC) Inc. MCC was founded by Graham Young, who works part time in the Globe's circulation department.

He says several marketers - including the Toronto Raptors, Choice Hotels and Subway - have tried to use the term without authorization. Some have agreed to pay for rights to the term; others have voluntarily changed the name of their campaigns; and others have been sent cease and desist letters.

Microsoft wants you to break up with advertisers

Keith McArthur, 24/05/07 at 11:02 AM EDT

Check out this video. It's a LOL portrayal of a breakup between an advertiser and consumer.

At the end, viewers are directed to www.bringtheloveback.com, which turns out to be a blog about the video, complete with stats that paint a picture of a video headed towards the viral tipping point.

Do a little searching and you'll find out the video was produced by Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions, the company's advertising sales division.

It's mostly pretty smart.

Unfortunately, the blogger, Geert Sasager, turns to marketer robospeak when he explains the rationale for making the movie:

"We wanted to do this movie to really debate with our partners and marketers the changing relationship between advertisers and consumers. We are always discussing the changing media landscapes, how consumers have changed and how advertisers need to redefine how they connect with them and we wanted to really bring the subject to life and walk the walk in terms of new ways of connecting."

Is "Evolution" the world's best ad?

Keith McArthur, 18/05/07 at 2:11 PM EDT

You would be forgiven for wondering if all the hype around the Dove "Evolution" viral is just hometown cheerleading.

The 74-second movie, produced by Ogilvy & Mather Toronto has been touted as a front-runner for the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.

Although the ad has been picked as Canada's best at two major award shows - the Marketing Awards and the Bessies - its quest for world domination suffered a minor setback last week when it only picked up a silver at the Clios in Miami.

But other results are more promising.

"Evolution" won two gold pencils at the One Show and was selected best in show this week in the inaugural Creativity Awards, beating out work like Honda's "Choir," Sony's "Paint" and Ecko's "Sill Free" stunt. Next week, the piece is expected to do well at the D&AD awards in London.

Will it win Grand Prix at Cannes? The guy to watch is Advertising Age critic Bob Garfield. He's not on the jury, but he might as well be. Not only does Garfield have an uncanny knack for predicting what will win, I would wager that his picks for what work should win has an influence on the jury.

And Garfield loves the spot. He gave it a stellar review and included it in his "10 ads Garfield loved" write-up for 2006.

What your t-shirt says about you

Keith McArthur, 16/05/07 at 3:52 PM EDT

I'm a big fan of Rethink Breast Cancer, not just because it's an important cause, but also because the execs there let me sit in on a branding session when I took over the marketing beat three years ago. The result was this story on charities as brands, one of the first articles I wrote as marketing reporter.

You may recall that last spring, Zig created checkoutmybreasts.com (now offline), a graphic Web site for Rethink in which a young woman demonstrated the proper techniques for breast self examination.

The latest campaign (shown above) comes from john st. This is a cropped piece of the print campaign, designed to promote Fashion Targets Breast Cancer t-shirts. You can buy the shirts at canada.roots.com to wear May 25 on Fashion Targets Friday.

Global warming on display. Sunny days only.

Keith McArthur, 14/05/07 at 1:45 PM EDT

Here's a terrific billboard from Draft FCB Toronto for the World Wildlife Fund.

It's the kind of thing that should do well at award shows -- in use-of-media cateogries as well as traditional out-of-home categories.

Using the sun to create shadows, it reminds me of this McDonald's billboard I wrote about a while ago. But while the sun is just a gimmick in the McDonald's board, it is central to the global warming discussion. Very smart.

Life's Short. Read my blog. And get a divorce.

Keith McArthur, 10/05/07 at 1:37 PM EDT

There's much hand-wringing in Chicago this week over a billboard advertising lawyer services that reads: "Life's Short. Get a divorce."

The headline is sandwiched between images of a half naked man and woman. City workers took down the billboard after residents complained.

But Corri Fetman, one of the divorce lawyers behind the billboard defended it.

"Just because you see a billboard with a hot body on it, it doesn't cause you to leave your spouse," Fetman said. "If you're already going to leave your spouse, the ad will appeal to you. If you do want to leave, you don't have to feel bad about it. Be honest with yourself and with your spouse."

"Evolution" all alone at Clio Awards

Keith McArthur, 08/05/07 at 2:36 PM EDT

There was lots of fretting last year about Canada's performance at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, when only 10 TV commercials were nominated for the shortlist, down from 44 the previous year.

Cannes is still a month away, but at another big international advertising show, Canada's performance on the TV shortlist is even more bleak.

At this week's Clio Awards in Miami, the sole Canadian ad on the TV shortlist is the brilliant Dove "Evolution" spot by Ogilvy and Mather. Watch it here. "Evolution" has a good shot at winning some awards, which would make up for the dearth of Canadian content on the shortlist.

There was better news in other categories. Ogilvy & Mather also showed up in the "poster" category with work for Hot Wheels (shown here).

Other Canadian work on the shortlists includes:

Leo Burnett, Visa, print
TBWA, The Art Garage, poster
Dentsu, Vespa, poster
BBDO, Unicef, poster
Lowe Roche, Stella Artois, innovative media
Zig, Scream TV, innovative media
Rethink, Sculpture Biennale, innovative media
Ogilvy & Mather, Dove, interactive
DDB, Subaru, radio
DDB, BC Aquarium, radio
DDB, Crime Stoppers, radio
Rethink, BC Lions, radio

Portfolio Night: Burn Back's secret identity revealed

Keith McArthur, 03/05/07 at 12:20 PM EDT

It's one of the biggest events in the world of advertising, and it all started here.

Tonight is Portfolio Night, when top creative directors sit down with budding copy writers and art directors, critique their books and offer advice. If all goes well, a creative director will find the next Alex Bogusky and the student will find a job. As I wrote back in 2005, the event seamlessly weaves together mentorship and recruitment. (Read more here.)

Back then, it was strictly a Canadian event, run by ihaveanidea, a Toronto-based social network for the advertising community. Last year, the event expanded into the States and this year it will be take place in 18 cities around the world including Sao Paulo, Paris, Sydney, Singapore, Barcelona and Mexico City.

This year, ihaveanidea promoted the event with Burn Back, which is purportedly a legendary 70's metal band back for a reunion with hits like "Make the Logo Bigger."

Watch a documentary here:

A surprising number of people in the ad world have fallen for the ruse. In fact, ihaveanidea execs created the band, the documentary and some videos to promote the event. Call it advertising. Or branded entertainment. Or just good fun.

The music is actually provided by London, Ont. band Peeler, while the acting is done by members of Second City.

Burn Back is, of course, a reference to Bill Bernbach (the B in DDB) who is one of the undisputed fathers of modern advertising.

How ads about making ads are made

Keith McArthur, 02/05/07 at 5:28 PM EDT

We've all seen examples of the postmodern "we're making an ad" ad. Usually, it's little more than the ad industry talking to itself and it's too clever by half.

But when I saw this ad -- "Marketing Meeting" by Vancouver-based Rethink Communications -- I laughed. I watched it again just to make sure and I laughed again.

Keep in mind that this is not an easy brief. It's a tactical ad for a financial services client, and the brief is to promote the dry-sounding "no haggle term deposit" offering.