Wearing Many Hats

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

Who doesn’t? The definition of work has changed so much that the very idea of a ‘job description’ needs to be rethought. I come across this often when people within and without the company ask me to write down what exactly I do as a Communicator. Oh, I do have my ‘elevator pitch’ but unless you are riding with me up a hundred floors, I may not leave you any wiser as to what hat I am talking about.

An interesting article came my way on how the Franchise Industry (one sector we finance, that I wear a hat for) is looking at PR from a multi-function perspective, and not just pure public relations. Titled “PR Industry Impacted by Franchise Revolution” it says how PR companies working for Franchise Businesses need to be able to do:

Brand Building
Franchisee Communications
Franchise Development
Multiple Franchise Openings and
Internet Marketing

Continue reading →

Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 and Journalism

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

Scott Simon, to those who are not familiar with NPR in the U.S. is a radio journalist who writes off Michael Moore as plankton in the murky pond of journalism: a ‘gonzodemogogue’ who doesn’t care for facts. (Wall Street Journal OP-ED, July 24, 2004.) (Simon covered the was in Afghanistan in 2002, and wrote a powerful ‘why we must fight’ piece here on 10/11 of that fateful year.)

Simon’s withering criticism of Fahrenheit/911 is valuable because NPR is often dismissed as the epitome of ‘left wing media.’ So why would a journalist of a lefty radio network take on the left’s spokesperson at large? How about redeeming journalism itself?

Mr. Moore has to face up to journalists because a documentary fortunately or unfortunately falls into a category of information rather than entertainment. Oliver Stone can get away with c-theories, because he is a storyteller not a documentary maker. Simon observes that

“Mr. Moore ignores or misrepresents the truth, prefers innuendo to fact, edits with poetic license rather than accuracy, and strips existing news footage of its contents to make events and real people say what he wants, even when they don’t.”

Because of this, says Simon, one has to suspect everything Moore uses as footage. (nice irony here: a conspiracy theory about a conspiracy theorist!) In the ‘rigor mortis’ scene (if you haven’t seen the movie, too bad) there is no reason to trust him, he says.

“A few basic details, like where and when the video was shot, are considered traditional reporting techniques…”

Whether you agree with Michael Moore or not, the movie is very powerful, but it’s certainly not a documentary –in the same way that ‘shockvertising’ ain’t marketing. It’s as biased as heck. That’s OK with me. I don’t believe that there is any medium or genre that is bias-free. But those who make a business out of bias, have to realize that they do live in glass houses –as in this OTHER documentary tries to expose!

Continue reading →

Inventing the ‘new media’ all over again.

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

Last month, I featured a story about how Macintosh users and Ferrari fans have been considered a target market –by a cell phone company and a sports car respectively. I know it gets confusing, when products target products. But the fact is that in the over saturated media space, the quest for the holy grail of attention, is leading marketers to invent their own media.

Take this quote from the VP of Lifetime TV network, Catherine Moran. (Quoted in Advertising Age, Aug 2, 2004)

“We’re all out there trying to find new media environments..Beaches do seem to be on everybody’s hit list.”

Hard to miss the irony of a TV network (the media) seeking a ‘new media environment’ to market itself.

Here’s another similar story. A Magazine using a Retailer as a ‘media environment’ instead of the other way around. A new magazine, called “All You” by Time Inc, will launch in Wal-Mart. Here’s what the publisher, Diane Oshin said about using Walmart.

“All You gives marketers the opportunity to target the ever-growing population of value-driven consumers in a high-quality environment that speaks directly to them,” said Oshin. “And, with initial distribution in Wal-Mart — where this customer shops — this magazine will be an extremely efficient way to reach her.”

Continue reading →

Brand Names In A Global World

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

Great article by Mark Lasswell Business 2.0 (August ’04 issue) about how product names bomb, when companies try to take them global.

Most of us have heard of the Chevy Nova (which translated into “won’t go” in Latin America) and Perdue Chicken’s line “It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken” that in translates into “it takes a sexually aroused man to make a chicken affectionate.”

But I hadn’t heard that the Pajero from Mitsubishi translates into a ‘wankermobile’ in Spanish speaking countries. Explains why, over here in the U.S., it’s called the Montero. The Paj has been the notorious SUV of politicians in Sri Lanka. Makes sense.

For more bloopers, check this link.

Continue reading →

Subservient viral marketing, round two

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

This year may go down as the year of the viral marketing –or should that be the year of ‘subservient’ marketing?

anugsdiet

After the wacky Subservient Chicken Web site featuring a man dressed as a chicken, came the ‘subservient president.’ This week, AdWeek reports that Crispin Porter & Bogusky has done it again for Burger King.

AngusDiet is a patently fake health site –populated with birds, fountains, and happy people—sprinkled with cynicism, humor, and a printable ‘honorary doctorate’. Even an Anthony Robbins-type of motivational film clip that ends with the line “Respect the angus. Respect the beef!”

It’s easy to see health advocates stomping all over this. But in the end, the question will be asked if this faux site is a viable marketing tactic. Maybe it is not supposed to be anything but a buzz generator (even targeting blogs like this!) to make the connection between the word ‘angus’ and Burger King.

Continue reading →

Clear Channel’s Woes

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

To add to Clear Channel’s misery, Howard Stern supposedly blogs. Even without it, he manages to get his message out as in this comment on a section of the MTV site.

“This is a joke and a smokescreen that it’s about sex,” Stern said on Wednesday (June 30). “I dared to go on the air and say that I do not support George W. Bush, I support John Kerry … all of a sudden, Clear Channel took me off the air in six markets. When you criticize the president, you get thrown off the air.”

Businessweek (July 12, 2004) reports that Stern was influenced by Michael Moore’s book “Dude Where’s My Country.”

An interesting sidebar: There’s a Web site run by radio consulting firm Jacobs Media, which shows communicators the limits of this ‘indecency’ act. You can test your ‘Indecency Quotient’ here.

Sample question about what’s permissible on air:

Double entendres such as “Están cambiando el aceite” (“they’re changing the oil”) in a foreign language are safe. True or False?

Don’t know? Take the quiz!

Continue reading →

“Think outside the barrel”

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

Dirt

Having hung out with the strategic planning, marketing and advertising crowd, I thought I’d heard of all the “Think outside the …” phrases.

How could we forget the burger-bashing approach (still running) of Taco Bell with the clumsy ‘Think outside the bun.’

Gas

BP (the company that now stands for Beyond Petroleum) must be deliberately riffing off this cliche with an ad about ‘outside the barrel’ ideas, specifically 3 E’s: Emissions, Environment and Education. For many reasons I like the BP ads in this series, with phrases and words highlighted by a yellow marker. Very polished, very straightforward. It’s not just the ads. Go to the BP site and the content is relatively hype free. As in this paragraph on this page:

Here’s a sample paragraph:

The majority of BP products emit greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other pollutants when burned; so it is right that we should play an active role in the search for viable solutions to the ‘energy paradox’- the paradox whereby the energy which provides society with heat, light and mobility, fuelling economic growth and development, simultaneously presents us with serious environmental and social challenges.

I would give BP an A- for trying to speak its mind, within the trappings of the hype-ridden genre of advertising and press kits.

Continue reading →

The Revolution Will Not Be Without Jay Leno

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

toon

Jib Jab. Michael Moore. Joe Trippi. If this was not election year in the U.S. we would not have even noticed these folks. Now, the media hang on to every word they utter. Moore was on Jay Leno. Joe Tripi has a book with a very catchy title, “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” and a Blog. Meanwhile, JibJab, the Bush-Kerry cartoon creators, are also facing copyright violation issues as reported by CNN.

One thing’s working for both candidates in this over-communicated world: the ability to distract the media from sticky issues. New York Times syndicated columnist, Paul Krugman on August 1st (registration required) pointed out instances of “TV news pursuing campaign triva.” He notes that trivialization and bias abound.

“We hear about Kerry’s haircuts, not his healthcare proposals. We hear about George Bush’s brush-cutting, not his environmental policies.”

It’s the Jay Leno-tization of news.

Continue reading →

‘Brand Chronicles’ –the positionista fires back!

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

Jack Trout has fired back at Larry Light.

Trout, the co-creator of Positioning theory in Marketing (with Al Ries) takes on 3 essential points that McDonald’s Chief Marketing Officer dismissed recently. See “Brand Chronicles,’ Baloney!” in the July 19 2004 issue of Advertising Age.
(In case you missed the discussion, you can find my recap here and in Mr. Light’s notes that Advertising Age magazine has posted.

Some of his rebuttals are too general, repetitive of the theory in the book, and miss the point:

“Positioning is a concept sweeping across the world as companies recognize the need to differentiate themselves in the minds of consumers and prospects.”

So what if

“A million copies of the three books on Positioning have been translated into 20 languages.”

Does the fact of Das Kapital, being translated into several languages make Marx’s theory irrefutable?

Trout appears to not want to admit that the world isn’t flat anymore. Marketing, like anything else cannot be frozen in, or held hostage to one theory. It must move on, Jack.

Continue reading →

Online PR

/ Angelo Fernando / Leave a comment

I just heard from a British-based online company called E-consultancy that’s been reading –and citing– this blog.

Take a look at e-Consultancy, because it features a vide swath of interests for marketing managers and PR people. From Reputation Management, to Search Engine Optimization, Community building and much more. It has 20,232 registered users, and 115,000 unique users a month!

Don’t let the subscription compomnent dissuade you. There are free downloads of powerpoint slides from companies who present at offline events called ‘Beauty Parades,’ and white papers on such things as “Extending Entertainment Brands into the Digital Space.” and samples of the “Roundtables” that are extremely valuable.

Continue reading →