This Week's Top Klog- 3/20

Soccer fans are fanatic. And, for reasons I don't know, they like to wear scarves. Which leads into my favorite idea this week.

If you happened to be in Seattle, Washington this week, you probably noticed many brightly colored scarves hanging around. Hanging on trees, towers, and even bridges.

These scarves were ushering in a new soccer team, the Seattle Sounders FC. Blazoned with the web address ScarfSeattle.com, folks around Seattle were encouraged to take pictures of themselves while wearing the scarves, and upload them to the site.

The “Scarf Seattle” effort ended with a huge version of the scarf on the famous space needle.

Along side the online and guerrilla efforts was a supplemental traditional media execution, giving the campaign the type of layered execution we love to see. Kudos to the agency- Wexley School For Girls.

Business Cards That Are Toys? AWESOME!

I get a lot of "average" business cards, and that is probably why I am always excited when we re-do our cards. I love having something that sticks out from the crowd, but even we wouldn't have thought of this idea from Lego.

Not easy to fit in the Rolodex, but we have a feeling these cards get some prime real estate on people's shelves.

My favorite feature is that they are supposedly design to psychically resemble the employee as well- genius!

New Feature- My Favorite Idea of the Week!

I LOVE ideas that are out of the box ideas- either just completely guerrilla, or that take traditional avenues and turn them on their heads.

So, I am going to try and pick out a new inspirational idea every week- something that doesn't necessarily take a huge budget to execute.

The first one comes from across the pond, and is a campaign to raise awareness of the homeless issue in the UK.

Advertising Agency: Rapp, London, UK
Creative Director: Chad Warner
Art Director: Jon Owens
Copywriter: Rob Prangle

Rainbow of Flavors Explosion

Everyone the last few days has been in an uproar over the new social media strategy by Skittles. Social Media experts everywhere are wagging their fingers at the brand- telling them they are "doing it all wrong." Instead of encouraging teens to talk about Skittles, they are encouraging "false conversations" about the brand instead. In other words- people are just throwing the word "Skittles" in their tweets just to be noticed, or worse, using the brand name and profanity together.

OK- let's take a breath here. How many teens are just going to talk about Skittles calmly and in a way that is organized and organic? A few, but the overall risk of social media is that you have to be prepared to take the good with the bad. If someone wants to tweet that "Skittles Sucks"- well, maybe they really believe that, and that is the risk of having a Facebook Page, etc.

But, let's face it- people all over are noticing the Skittles campaign. They are blogging about, writing articles about, and analyzing Skittles. When was the last time I wrote about the brand- right- never. I am a measly little media planner and buyer, but still.

They have taken a risk, and it has gotten people talking. And, that, is much more than many brands can say these days.

If You Won't Change, Why Should I Care?

Be warned- this is a venting post. I am venting because every day I hear how bad the newspaper industry is. But, almost everyday, I hear about or have an experience with a newspaper that makes my blood boil. I have written about this before, and I continue to be surprised at their business sense.

From a Subscriber's Perspective:
I admit, I subscribe to the newspaper. But, if I were not a media planner/buyer, it would be one of the first things I would cut from my household budget. As a person in their 30's, I am bored with the paper. Outside of the front page, and a section here or there, the only thing I enjoy about the paper is the Target insert that comes every Sunday. I keep thinking newspapers will get the hint- make their content and formats change with the times. But, it is essentially the exact same paper my mom and dad were reading 30 years ago.

And, on top of that, every year my rates go up. So, I pay more for less. Or, at least for less appealing content.



From an Advertiser's Perspective:
This is where I have the biggest issue. Currently, I am drowning in media buying and negotiations. And, all across the board, I am seeing media outlets dropping rates to be in line with the current economic situation. Not only do they have more inventory open, but they realize that their clients are hurting too. And, without lower rates and more innovative ideas, those clients will leave, leaving more open inventory, and thus, the domino affect.

But, not so with newsprint. I can cite instant after instant where long-time advertisers have been pushed into signing more expensive and in-flexible contracts. Today, I even had a situation in which a paper refused to honor a previously quoted price because they made a mistake on their side..... a simple $100 mistake.

If they are not able to cut $100 off of an ad for someone that has been running newsprint for 50 years, then why should we be willing to sign away such large chunks of our budget when all we get is a shrinking audience?


Obviously, not all of my experiences are like this, but I am tired of the doom and gloom from the newspaper industry, when I see very little innovation, flexibility, or customer service from them.

WHOA! Someone is Actually Spending More?

Budgets have been a big topic for me lately, mostly because we are wrapping up the planning on several 2009 plans. There have been two big trends I have seen this year:

1. Everyone has been slow getting 2009 up and running.
2. No one wants to tell us what their real budget is.

Number two is what has been giving us the most trouble, because it means we spend a lot of time trying to guess where we should land. And, we hardly ever get it right, so it results in constant revisions.

With our current clients, I think the biggest reason they are hesitant to give us that magic number is because the economy is so unpredictable right now, and they are worried about spending more money and getting fewer sales.

But, marketing professionals know the tough times are not the right time to cut budgets. In fact, because it is harder to get that piece of the pie, you may have to spend more. Scary- I know.

Wal-Mart is proving this theory right. The giant retail chain has been one of the few out there that have been seeing successes in these trying times. And, today, it was released that their measured media budget has increased by over 50%. Now, let's not kid ourselves- their low prices are contributing to their success as well, but in a time that would be easy to be conservative, they have ramped up their advertising.

While increasing budgets by 50% are not realistic for local businesses, staying flat is minimally what you should do. Fighting for the market share now will result in success now and in the future.

Where are the Successful Facebook Campaigns?

Several times a day, I hop onto Facebook, and check in on my various acquaintances, to see what is going on in the world- or at least, in THEIR worlds.

This morning, while checking what new events I have been invited to, it occurred to me, there are not very many people I know who are NOT on Facebook.

There has also been a lot of studies lately into the expanding demographics of the site, the increasing traffic, and the exodus away from MySpace.

That being the case, why are we not hearing about any success stories from marketers using Facebook? I have visited with others who have ventured into this arena, and their reactions are always ho-hum. Many of my clients have inquired about Facebook, but the lack of results make me hesitant to recommend it.

Have we just not found the sweet spot with consumers, or do they look at the space as their private arena, and therefore, are turned off by the pitches to learn more about laundry detergent or buy shoes?

Until we know, we advise cautious curiosity with your marketing dollars.