Private Media

A few weeks ago my Think Tank colleague Gordon blogged about the Proposition 2 ½ over ride which was soundly rejected by his city, Beverly MA.  His observations on local politics and the impact of social networking on these heated topics are characteristic of many towns who are facing tough budgetary decisions in economically diverse communities.  And my town, an upscale fishing/sailing town north of Boston, is included on that list.

I will admit it right now: I am an SUV driving, latte drinking, work-out mom with 3 kids and at least 3 jobs, only one for which I get an actual pay check.  Most of the time managing my off-springs agenda’s is a full time job.  Sometimes it’s the PTO, or church school, or the Children’s Hospital fundraisers that fill my day. Other times it’s helping my clients reach the ever-more-valuable Mom-target more effectively.  It was the years of training in media arena that prepared me best and most for my most recent 90 day job: Chief Override Mom.

Having never worked on a political campaign, nor really knowing anyone who has made it uncharted water.  But much like bringing a new product to market, there was a familiarity to our strategy. We organized ourselves by putting together a troop of talented, business savvy Mommas who brought energy and creativity to this challenge.  We had communications specialists, attorneys, web designers, teachers, real estate marketers, ad agency types, you name it.  We had representation from all kids of hard working Moms, oh yes and one dad with a great sense of humor!  Once our team was drafted we set about answering the following: How were we going to persuade a town full of real old line New Englanders (read: frugal), who are insanely proud of the “lowest” tax rate around, to approve almost $22 million to REPAIR AND UPDATE our middle school facilities?  Not even to build a new school?

This was not going to be “my mothers over ride” as we embraced new media.  What once was an old fashion effort of neighborhood signs and leaflets in your neighbor’s door evolved into a multi-platform marketing strategy.  We laid out a 90 day time plan for our communications and out reach.  We built a web site and utilized Constant Contact email newsletters to reach out to our database of supporters. We set up phone networks of parents to use word of mouth to get out the vote. We had traditional direct mail to the 45-60 year old voters who could no longer (or never could) be reached by the back pack brigade.  We created emails that were organically viral: you send it to your address book and ask those people to pass along in kind.  We added a face to face component and invited the community to events, including tours of the school itself.  Taking word of mouth marketing one step further we identified town/thought leaders and brought them literally into the boiler rooms of the school that many of them had attended in their own youth, pointing out of course that nothing had really changed in 50 years… ergo the $22 million. 

It was important to keep our eye on the opposition daily, reading of course the angry and bitter words on local town blogs and forums, which of course are attributed to no one.  As Gordon pointed out, it is much easier to be rude when you don’t have to sign your name to your rants.  We didn’t spend much time or energy trying to change the hearts and minds of the intensely opposed, it would have been futile.  We preferred to focus on educating those voters who would be impacted one way or another by this enormous decision. 

After 90 days and lots of hard work and some strategic sign holding later, we prevailed.  A real grass roots effort with some high tech twists helped us to get out enough voters to pass our over ride by a 2 to 1 margin.  What had worked was creating a private media channel to reach our target through many vehicles:  a combination of print and on-line distribution of information that helped to educate our community.  It was face to face meetings and tours that gave real urgency to our cause.  It was virtual tours online that brought the situation to life.  It was the friendly email reminders to the overwhelmed to make sure we made their daily “to do list”.  It was inviting the senior community to witness the decay of the school facilities.  It was reminding the town in local papers about the impact of a healthy school system on their property values.  All in all, it was a classic private media channel where we used compelling content to tell our story to a highly targeted audience.

I know this small town effort to fix a single school is no match for what is coming in November.  We are still low tech in our efforts compared to Obama and McCain but we sure have come along way from the bake sales and flyers of my youth.  I have witnessed organic-mom-networking 2.0.  So far I’d say it’s a powerful force of nature and one to be watched with a careful marketer’s eye.

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I recently contributed another article to Chief Marketer on the topic of face to face events.  Specifically it explains how to use events as a lead generation and lead nurturing tool.  While working for several media companies I had responsibility for publication branded events and custom events.  One thing I learned is when using events as lead gen tool it is critical to scale your event (and budget) to the anticipated return.  Many people do think of live events as custom media, but they can be very powerful tools as part of a private custom media solution.  Click here to read the article. 

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Kimberly Jackson and I both wrote about the same topic this week, independent of each other, so here is a short introduction and both postings.  We were both taking a look at a private media channels created by personalities that are aimed at our respective demographics.  Oprah is for Kimba, the influential working mom and community organizer, and Howard Stern for me and my adolescent sense of humor.  While the content of each private media channel is very different, the net result is the same – a high affinity environment of trust.  Time and time again it is proven that in today’s media jungle the best way to get your marketing messages across is to pair them with original content that connects with your target audience.  Oprah and Howard may not have much in common, but they understand the power of intent based marketing as well as anyone today. 

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No one in media today understands the concept of private media channels better than Howard Stern.  At first, his much trumpeted move to Sirius Satellite radio seemed like a way to get out from under the thumb of FCC and their constant monitoring. However, Howard had something more in mind than the freedom to drop an occasional f-bomb and in-depth stripper interviews.  Back in the prehistoric early 90’s he dubbed himself the “King of all Media” because he was successful on syndicated radio, did a highlight show on E!, had best selling books, and an autobiographical movie.  He was in all media, but they were not integrated and he was essentially renting channels from huge media companies who owned the shows and profits.  He now has two dedicated stations on Sirius (soon to be merged with XM), his own web site and Howard TV which is an On Demand pay service.  All three platforms are tightly integrated, and users pay for the radio show and TV shows, while the free web site is a promotion for both.

The radio channels are interesting because they create a unique environment for the show.  There is a news operation to report on news about the show and characters; and each day there is a wrap up show to talk about the events of that day’s show.  Each show is treated like breaking news on the radio, TV and web site.  It is very addicting to tune into – you get immersed in a parallel world Howard is President and Fred, Artie, Robin, Gary and the huge cast of characters are the cabinet and members of Congress.  The wrap up show is like MSNBC for the whack pack (Howard’s most loyal fans that have become part of the show). 

The net effect is a very high affinity environment that produces two sources of revenue – subscriber fees and advertising/sponsorships.  At a time when it is getting difficult to get people to pay for content, Stern fans are happily forking over money to be able to be a part of his private media channel.  Additionally, the integration and cross-promotion is critical to creating the feel of a private media channel.  Howard Stern may not be to your taste, but there is no denying he has been a media pioneer for the past 25 years.  Keep an eye on him, and you will get a sense of what the future of media channels may look like.

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Have you seen the Oprah Network lately?  Number one ranked talk show; hit magazine; satellite radio; oprah.com… all complete with enough content to fill the digital divide.  She shares her wisdom including what we should read and eat; how we should live our lives for the ultimate fulfillment; how we should decorate; who we should help, admire, adore or vilify.  Can one person really be so well rounded, so educated, so omnipotent that she can maneuver the masses with such finesse?

It’s no secret that authors hope to be hand picked for her outrageously popular book club series.  Sure, past endorsements include well-known’s such as Faulker, Tolstoy and Angelou, but many lesser-knows have been vaulted to stardom (or purgatory) with the same passion.  Whether it is Jeffrey Eugenides discussion of children born with both male and female sexual organs in his novel Middlesex or the Gabriel Garcia Marquez with his politically charged love story in Love in the Time of Cholera, these authors become the preference of many mommy book clubs in the US.  Equally, the backlash experienced by James Frey, author of A Million Little Pieces, originally billed as a memoir turned out to be a wild work of embellished fiction.  Oprahs’ anger at being duped resonates for him today as he publishes his next work Bright Shiny Morning.  Every interview for his newest effort seems to begin with his previous experience on Oprah. Her condemnation and distaste for his dishonesty will likely follow him for the rest of his publishing career.

Manufacturers and retailers pray for the Oprah nod of approval.  Last week, Oprah did her Favorites of Summer in which each audience member won lots of her hot picks for hot summer items.  Audience members received gas grills, clothes, CDs,  make up, etc. – you could tell the few men in the audience had no idea what was going on when Oprah announced the theme of the show, while their female counterparts jumped up and down in anticipation of their forthcoming booty!  Tummy Yummies were on her list and I would love to see the sales spike reported for this company who designs pretty tees that also minimize the not-so-rock-hard tummies!  

Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara also got the thumbs up.

“This was the first time anybody’s come to the offices with a scientist to explain how [the makeup] works,” Gayle says [Oprahs BFF Gayle is also on staff at Harpo ]. “This is the scientific explanation: A dual polymer system keeps the mascara from migrating underneath your eyes. That’s code for it doesn’t smudge.”  

Did we really need a scientific explanation for how the mascara works?  Oprah gave us one and maybe that is the key to her success.  She takes nothing for granted in quest, not even the fact that we just buy mascara without understanding its unique merits.  Marketing tip here?  Never assume that your product it completely understood by your target market, no matter how main stream or simple.  Oprah doesn’t.

Her endorsements reach further than store shelves.  This year she has thrown her support in the presidential race to Barack Obama.  I wonder if Barack was forced to pick one supporter out of his many backers, if Oprah would out rank John Edwards in importance. She might even make a great vice-presidential candidate!   Her endorsement on Larry King may be one of the most pivotal moments in the dog fight between the potential first woman/the potential first African-American to seek the Presidency of the United States.  Her weight, no pun intended, may just prove to be what tips the scales in the democratic decision making process.

The Oprah network reaches far and wide.  Her influence is felt in so many categories.  “Self help” or “help others” she can influence us by providing what we see: the whole story.  She investigates, reports and summarizes those topics for which most Americans, especially American women, have neither the time nor the resources to research.  We put our faith in Oprah.  We believe what we see on her couch, in her pages or on another media platform.  We rush to spend our time and dollars, and even our votes with a confidence that if she says it good enough, it must be.  Maybe it is the humble beginnings, if a poor black girl who had many speed bumps throughout her life can become a media mogul, then amazing things might happen to us regular folk too.  Maybe it’s that she just calls ‘em as she sees ‘em and for us that simplicity of message resonates.  Whatever it is, there is not doubt, that in Oprah we trust!

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This year’s Digital Hollywood conference in Los Angeles has been shedding light on the significant challenges marketers face as they try to lasso prospects online. By and large, the panelists have been candid about the immaturity of this medium, but have been unified in their belief that traditional advertising is waning, and providing prospects with meaningful online experiences is the cost of entry.

The panelists, most of which carried senior executive titles, provided sound bites that had me in complete agreement. Here is a sample.

During a session entitled: The Web, Social Media and Advertising: Transforming and Disassembling the World of Traditional Media and Communications, Matt Rosenberg, Group Director, Organic said that to be successful, “Brands are immersing themselves in the content experience…you need to let your brand take a backseat.” I absolutely agree, and that is a core strategy at King Fish Media, where our job is to help clients engage with prospects and clients on a far more meaningful level than brand advertising offers.

Recommended contacts who spoke at this panel:

Raquel Krouse, VP Social Media, Interpublic Emerging Media Lab
Matt Rosenberg, Group Director, Organic
Mark Lewis, Strategic Planning Director, DDB San Francisco

The next session, Bridging TV and Broadband: Strategic Relationships – Advertising, Technology and Content, took the full customer immersion concept to a different level. A senior executive from the Home Shopping Network candidly evaluated her brand, and said that the universal knowledge of her brand allowed for movement into new media platforms (Interactive TV and .TV), saying, “People at the company worried about these platforms, but with the huge brand loyalty, they go wherever the brand goes and build communities there.” We, at King Fish, describe this phenomenon as owning, not renting your own media channel – Private Media.

Recommended contacts from this panel:

Jeff Miller, President and CEO, ICTV
Fred McIntyre, SVP, AOL Video

On a separate note, I hope to never again hear these words as much as I have during the last three days: “paradigm” (thought we were done with that), “frictionless”, “zero sum game”, “net loser” and “value proposition”.

During each of these sessions, I heard frequent confirmation that intent-based vs. interruption-based communications is the most effective means for clients to communicate with their prospects and customers; custom media provides the single strongest venue to effectively achieve success with this effort.

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I recently came across some interesting brand loyalty research.  This article from Chief Marketer  refers to a study done by Brand Keys that looks at a “Customer Loyalty Engagement Index”. In a nutshell the findings suggest customer loyalty greatly increases when products and services are customized to the consumer.  This makes perfect sense, as customization is becoming more critical to marketers as product differentiation is becoming hard to come by these days.  It is a testament to world wide engineering and manufacturing skills that most products sold in the US today are made very well.  Since most competitive products do the same thing reasonable well, the ability to customize for a specific buyer has become an attractive product attribute.

The two factors driving the age of customization are the same ones that are driving the move to private media channels and content marketing.  An advance in technology and web adoption has made ordering customized products or consuming custom content real and easy to do.  However, the biggest factor is that consumers have the power and are in control of their choices.  The web has empowered consumers to shop and/or gather information across the globe.  It also plays into the consumer’s mindset – they would much rather have something created just for them instead of the same product purchased by the guy down the street.

You can see how this can apply to your marketing choices – if you send your customers content that has been customized for them, you will increase your chances of building a relationship of affinity, trust and loyalty.  Many companies are missing a golden opportunity to build a stronger relationship with their customers by not communicating with them in a customized private custom media venue.  How many companies are still relying on mass market bulk mailings to talk to their customers if they talk to them at all?  The technology exists where you can mine your database to know a customer’s interests and tastes; why not send them content and marketing messages that are customized for them instead of a generic catalog or email?  Or even worse, do think you are hitting your current customers with a mass media ad that is focused at prospects?  Marketers are required to evaluate their customer communications in light of changes in the way people desire and consume information. 

We are in the age of customization, and savvy marketers don’t want to be sending yesterday’s news to tomorrow’s customers.

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According to a recent Junta42/BtoB Magazine study, almost 30% of businesses marketing budgets are allocated to their own content. That means, instead of creating an advertisement that runs along side traditional media, businesses are developing and executing their own content, essentially being their own media.

Can I hear an Amen?

Look, there will always be interruption-style marketing, or what a recent BusinessWeek calls “attention-deficit” advertising. According to the article, “Marketers, only too aware that consumers are ignoring traditional ads, have adopted the ‘more is more’ approach and have begun advertising everywhere – in taxis, fitness clubs, and hospital waiting rooms.”
This will never stop. Some people will self-choose to become walking billboards and, outside of corporate design standards, some locales will look like Times Square on steroids. As long as there is product to sell, this will never stop.

But there is another way, a “higher road” per say, which business marketers are starting to get. 30% of a marketing budget is a huge number. Businesses are beginning to understand that the creation of valuable, relevant and compelling content may, ultimately, be the best way to drive long-term revenues and profits.

Let’s get this straight: Businesses don’t create their own educational content to be nice, they do it to make money.  The creation of content marketing within an organization may be one of those few areas where doing the “right” thing for your customers actually makes you more money (Toyota Prius and Waterfree urinals come to mind).

Why Now?

Even though the art of content marketing and custom publishing has been going on since the dawn of time (but formally recognized when John Deere launched their customer newsletter to farmers, The Furrow, in 1896), some media-types overlook why content marketing is beginning to skyrocket.

It all has to do with consumer control. Because of technological advances, today’s consumer (your customer) can control everything they engage in. In the past, consumers were “forced” to watch television commercials. TiVo proved this wasn’t a necessity. In the past, access to content was relegated to the elite few who had subscriptions to media sources. Google has democratized content to such a degree that literally anyone can find everything from anywhere in the world.

Today’s buyers engage with advertising when they choose to. The marketer has lost any and all control they might have had in the past. Without control, what’s a marketer to do?
From this perspective, the solution is easy: As a business, if my customers are going to ignore my ads, I must deliver them valuable content so they pay attention to me. This is the reason why 30% is just a starting point. In less than five years, it may be 50%…possibly more.

Exciting Times

If half or more of marketing budgets are dedicated to custom content, one thing is inevitable: the quality of content will continue to increase. Corporate content, in order to get the attention of customers, must be as good as or better than any content you’d find in mainstream or trade media.

Hard to fathom? Not really. We are still fighting for our customer’s attention, but instead of annoying them with a million unwanted messages a day, we’ll be strategically targeting an important piece of content, at the appropriate time, that makes the customer more intelligent, or makes their lives easier in some way.
In order to accomplish this task, businesses will reach out to the best journalists and publishers from around the world, from local to global, to help them deliver a valuable message to their customers. There may never be a better time to be a writer than right now. Forget being the chief editor of the Wall Street Journal, go to Microsoft, Cisco or P&G.
Exciting time indeed. Prepare the way.

Joe Pulizzi is founder and chief content officer for Junta42. Junta42’s Match product is a free resource for marketing professionals to help them find pre-qualified content marketing assistance. Read more of Joe at http://blog.junta42.com/.

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Folio just reported on a recent Magazine Day where there was much conversation about the future of magazines (Magazines 3.0) and print in general. The drum beat of bad news for the traditional print business has been steady as consumer eyeballs and marketing dollars migrate to events (live and interactive) and online (e.g., Web sites, video, social networking, etc.)

I was really struck by the juxtaposition of quotes coming from the conference. John Griffin, Chairman of the Magazine Publishers of America (and group President of National Geographic) is trying to put a positive spin on it, but he seems to be fighting a losing battle. He is hoping to be able to deliver faster “audience metrics” to compete with online and TV. Huh? How is getting MRI and ad readership scores quicker going to help compete against the web? There will never be a real and tangible way to tie a print ad in a publication like National Geo (with close and materials deadlines a month ahead of publication) to any measurable return – that fact is driving the migration of advertisers away from print media.

However, that is only one issue responsible for the decline of print media. The other is also mentioned in the Folio article. There are still existing hard walls between edit and sales in American print media. Check these quotes out:

“Advertisers want to borrow—or steal—the credibility and authority we have with our readers,” Griffin said. “And we want to give it to them” without threatening the credibility and authority, he said. “[At National Geographic] we’re always asking ‘How far can we go with this?’ It’s a contestant internal struggle.”

“It’s the single biggest point of contention within our company,” said Deidre Depke, Newsweek.com’s assistant managing editor. “The only editorial asset our magazine has is its content—for us to abandon that, and let advertisers do what they want with it, would be a big mistake.”

In sum: there is a holier than thou streak that runs though these companies and publications that goes beyond what is really necessary and required by consumers. But read this quote – it is excellent, and I think sums up how many marketers/advertisers feel today.

“[The line] has been self-governed and self-policed—you’ve put the handcuffs on yourselves,” Steve Sturm, group VP of strategic research and planning at Toyota Motor North America said. “The federal government, the state government, they haven’t told you to do it. You put up all these roadblocks” that other media don’t have. And a younger generation of potential readers, he said, “don’t play by the same rules you play by.”

Dead on. One of the things that I learned in doing dozens of reader focus groups and readership studies is that the readers don’t care nearly as much about the actual brand name of the content as the editors would like to think they do. Consumers just want good honest, credible and accurate content that helps them in some way or to enjoy for entertainment. No one cares about all the editorial awards or devotion to “church and state”. It’s all about leads, ROI and moving product for the savvy marketer, not having their ad appear across from “pure” award winning editorial. Think about American Idol – it is essentially a commercial for Ford, Coke, AT&T and iTunes wrapped in a talent show. It is a brilliant marriage of content and sponsorship. Consumers get content they love, and marketers get a private media channel for their brands.

Today’s consumer, of all ages, is extremely media savvy and knowing. They can tell the difference between marketing messages and content. Editors need to give the consumer more credit for understanding the dynamic between marketing and content. The prevalence of corporate sponsorships, product placement, content relevant Web ads and custom media have made consumers come to expect marketing messages and content together in one package. In fact, I would argue they find it more valuable.

A magazine’s key asset is its database and the relationship with the people in that database. That is what they should be leveraging to compete. Marketers are tired of renting media channels in print publications when they can own their custom media channels using original content and targeted content delivery. Print can still be a valuable marketing tool when used as part of a private media solution that provides value for the reader and targeted messaging for the marketer.

As Steve Sturm mentions, younger consumers have a whole different perception of media and content. Magazine publishers are going to have to make some hard decisions and quickly. The old way of doing business is gone forever.

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Last week I wrote about Starbuck’s attempt to reach out to customers and prospects for constructive feedback and new product ideas.  In Tuesday’s Boston Globe they ran an insert (with attached card, see below) that made the following offer: Come in to Starbucks on Wednesday’s for the next six weeks, and receive a free tall Pike Place Roast coffee.  Pike Place Roast is their new smoother blend that was requested by many of the suggestions on the site.  It is a great tactic to use custom media to get new and lapsed customers into stores and try their new coffee.  I have to believe this promotion was focused at people like me who prefer the taste of Dunkin Donuts and do not regularly shop at Starbucks. Six weeks of free coffee can get someone hooked and make a stop at Starbucks part of their regular routine.  Most importantly, it gets the product into people’s hands.  All the “branding” and expensive TV ads in the world can’t guarantee that.

In the interest of marketing science I went to my local Starbucks yesterday morning to test their offer and taste the new blend.  It was the typical Starbucks experience with lots of earnest, serious people sitting around with no particular place to go at 8:30am on a week day.  I strode up to the baristas and ordered my tall Pike Place Roast and flashed my card.  I guess the card identified me a newbie since my barista felt compelled to thoughtfully point out that “tall” means “small”.  It was probably the best coffee I ever had at Starbucks, not as good as Dunkin Donuts, but much improved. 

It is interesting to see their private media channel come full circle from soliciting advice from their customers to putting a program in place to put their words into action.  I will give it a shot the next few weeks and let them try and convert me.  Maybe some day I will actually know what Venti means.

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Starbucks has been getting beaten up this year and faces tough competition from Dunkin Donuts. Even McDonalds is taking a run at them.  One of the ways they chose to respond is a great lesson in listening to your customer and embracing a private custom media channel.  For many companies the knee jerk, old school reaction would have been to launch a “branding” campaign or hire a celebrity pitch person.  Instead Starbucks did something very cool – they launched My Starbucks Idea web site.  The purpose of the site is to ask their loyal customers what they could do to improve the product and service.  I would encourage you to go to the site and read the both the volume and passion of the responses.  The site is powered by salesforce.com and they did a similar site for Dell.  Interesting, Dell and Starbucks have a lot in common – both were innovative companies who used to be the fresh up-and-comers, and once they got too big; they lost touch with what made them great.

I commend both companies for creating a private media channel to have a two way dialog with their customers.  This kind of forum gives customers a place to vent, and make suggestion.  Read through some of them – they are not only thoughtful, but smart.  A lot of companies give lip service to listening to their customer, but how many actually do and act on it?  More than ever, people in the executive suite are isolated from their customers, where they are a long way from their middle class American customers and prospects.  Also, since they only talk to other execs, they get caught in an infinite loop of their own B.S.  How many meetings have you been in where sales and marketing people sit around pitching each other and not taking in outside information?  Happens all the time and the result: the ads we see on TV and in magazines are completely off target.

What I really like about the site is the “Ideas in Action” section where Starbuck employees respond in their own words and tell customers what action they will take based on customer suggestions.  This is powerful because many times when you write to a web site, you get an automated response which is sometimes worse than getting none at all.  I have to admit I have never been a big Starbucks fan – the coffee is too harsh and I can’t stand the ordering process.  It was fun to see that many others feel the way I do.  As a result, they are introducing a “smoother” coffee and talking about an express line for impatient people like me who just want a regular coffee; and don’t want to stand behind a line of people ordering complicated permutations of coffee beans, milk (cow or soy) and odd flavors.

Now, let’s see if they take this process one step further.  They have collected scores of contact names and been given the “permission” to talk to them about Starbucks.  I would suggest starting a real Starbucks private custom media channel to their customers using content marketing to further strengthen the bond between them and their customers.  This approach could get Starbucks back on track and make the brand fresh again.  Meanwhile, I can’t wait for the first express line open. 

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Crocheted doll hats off to American Girl Doll (AGD) for some of the most effective marketing I have ever seen. Bringing new meaning to managing supply and demand, they have targeted the heart and soul of the most competitive purchasing segment in the US: the pre-teen girl. In a fashion that I admire and embrace, AGD has surrounded their target audience (and their target’s CFOs—the moms) with a true 360 degree marketing approach. They embrace print, events, email, destination marketing and a new twist, hair styling. Simply put, American Girl Doll has created a private media channel to talk directly to their customers and prospects. They truly own their media channel rather than renting traditional ad space.

To see this media channel in action take a trip, curious marketers! AGD calls it “Shop, Play, Visit, Watch”. There are so many ways to interact with this brand and all roads lead to profit. The dolls represent historical figures or exact look-a-likes of your little princesses. They represent different nationalities, races and abilities. They are designed to be aspirational as well as inspirational. Dolls and the endless supply of outfits, furniture, pets, accessories and equipment can be purchased online or at one of the specialty American Girl Doll stores in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas and Atlanta. The clothes fit the dolls and they have matching outfits and pj’s for the big girls too! But don’t just shop at the stores! Stay and have lunch with your little look-alikes. Get your hair done, and the doll’s hair, too. Just make sure to keep the credit card in hand.

They have created a custom magazine to talk directly with their customers. For $23 the American Girl Doll magazine will entertain while building loyalty and preference, six times a year. The content is written with the target in plain sight, including: party planning; crafts; activities; even girl-to-girl advice for those 8-12 years old. The custom media component is complimented by “more magazine fun online” including compelling puzzles, quizzes and games from “the magazine on FUN”. Whether filling Felicity’s Wagon, visiting Kaya’s Mountain Escape, or helping Molly grow a garden, the online activities are designed to be educational and wholesome. Given the challenges of monitoring children’s online usage, moms generally welcome sites and activities that embrace these qualities. Our little American Girls can spend their most valuable pre-teen resource, their time, devoted to this brand. The smart ones even figure out how to get their mom’s most valuable resource, cash, committed as well. My Mom-sense is that $23 seems a reasonable subscription offer for hours of fun and reading for this integrated print/web product.

The entertainment continues with DVDs and feature-length films in theaters, generally inspired by the many books written about these 15 inch tall beauties. Trailers of the movies can be previewed at http://www.americangirl.com/ .

As a mom, I am taken back to my own youth, when Barbie and her friends were the hub of my universe. Nurse Barbie, Wedding Barbie, Beach Barbie, Doctor Barbie… ah the options were endless. My friends and I worked our parents with a finesse that would impress a diplomat for a new doll or ensemble. Maybe it was just that our parents knew that a new outfit, complete with teeny weenie high heels could keep us busy for hours of healthy imaginative playtime. As wonderful as Barbie and her buddies were, they were limited to dolls and accessories, and their promotional opportunities were limited to running ads on TV and in magazines. My daughter’s choices seem to have so much more depth and dynamics and AGD can own their media channel. Because they use media and technology to surround their customer, AGD has built a much deeper relationship than I could ever have had with Barbie.

As a marketer, I marvel at what this Barbie in the “post advertising age” strategy has accomplished. Their success is unquestionable and the future looks bright. My next question to my clients: can you shop, play, visit, watch and live your brand? If you can’t yet, is it a possibility? What are the components that can be added to your existing strategy that will compliment the existing plan? And what can we all learn from a doll about private media channels?

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Much has been made of the efforts of conservative radio hosts to affect the Republican primary process. The right wing talker crowd almost uniformly and vocally supported Mitt Romney, the formerly moderate Governor of Massachusetts. Additionally, they railed against John McCain and Mike Huckabee with a venom previously reserved for Bill Clinton and Barbara Streisand. Question: does anyone else see the irony of a thrice divorced indicted drug addict, Rush Limbaugh, defaming a war hero and a Minister?

A deeper look tells us a lot about the changing media landscape and reinforces the fact that consumers are now in control of their media choices.

Conservative talk radio has been a successful media phenomenon, while attempts to recreate on the left have been a commercial failure. The energy of these shows are often fueled by the anger and resentment of listeners who are unhappy with the changes going on around them and the always present liberal (or enemy of the day) threat. Tune in for a while and you will hear they sure are against a lot of things: taxes, universal healthcare, affirmative action, gun control, abortion, gay marriage, immigration, and secular progressives who are now apparently conducting a war on Christmas.

The success of these shows depends on conflict and ideological purity which is why they hate John McCain. Based on his past record, a President McCain would reach out to his friends across the aisle and attempt to create the solutions Americans crave. Voters in the primary elections are gravitating to McCain and Barack Obama who are least ideological and are the most pragmatic of the candidates.

Voters in both parties want real solutions and desire authenticity. That is one of the reasons why conservative radio could not deliver for Romney. Jay Severin, a radio host here in MA, turned his show into a four hour daily commercial for Romney (whom he said would be on Mount Rushmore as a President) and regularly spewed bile about McCain. Net result - Romney only beat McCain by four delegates in his home state on Super Tuesday, symbolic of his greater lack of traction among Republican voters.

The other reason talk radio could not influence voters is rooted in changes in the media landscape. Like the left-leaning network news, right wing radio used to be the only game in town. It was the place where people got their news, and where they formed their opinions. Not anymore. Now there are thousands of places to get information about the candidates and issues. Blogs and citizen journalists have flooded the Web, proliferating the number of opinions to choose from (Technorati tracks over 46,000 political blogs). Additionally, candidates are now using their own Web sites and private media solutions to speak directly to voters with their own media channel. Voters can easily find information and do their own research. It is tough to pass off Romney as a social conservative when You Tube is full of clips from his more liberal past.   Click here and here to see pro-choice Mitt in action.  It is also hard to misrepresent McCain’s conservative record when anyone can look it up themselves.  Between media changes and the current mood of the electorate, the conservative commentators are losing relevancy and influence. Not to mention the credibility issue they have after selling their audiences so hard on George Bush, on track to leave office the least popular President since Nixon.

The loss of credibility, relevance and influence has these radio hosts nervous and up in arms. Being a right wing commentator has become a lucrative media career. The radio shows are only the hub of a multi-platform brand that includes books, TV shows, Web sites and speaking engagements. In fact, I have hired Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham (me and Laura at the Rainbow Room, she was great) as dinner speakers for B2B events. A loss of relevancy and perceived influence could be disastrous for their media brands and personal income.

Twice in my career I was working on a formally powerful media brand that lost relevancy and influence seemingly overnight due to market and media consumption changes. It ain’t pretty to see up close, and once that mystique is gone, it is gone for good. This is why you hear some of these pundits, led by Ann Coulter, say they will vote for Hillary or Obama over McCain presumably to keep the conflict and anger stoked. Which do you think Ann is more concerned with, the welfare of American people or the bottom line of Ann Coulter, Inc.?

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There have already been a million reviews of the creative, and that is not our goal, but rather to take a Private Media/Custom Media look at the efforts.

One of the big themes was Web tie-ins and promotions. Google/You Tube  offered a special package which was a smart option. When you are spending $3 million for 30 seconds of rented TV time, it is a no brainier to buy a package from the premier search engine and video sharing site. My Space and other sites also promoted how you could recap the commercials online after the game. Many (but not enough) of the commercials invited you to a special Web site with mixed results. This was the whole focus of the Go Daddy campaign where they teased you to go on line for a lame Junior High joke about Danica Patrick and a beaver. Embarrassing all around, and did nothing to persuade people to use their domain buying service.

The other theme was the overall level of violence, anger, mayhem and gross outs. Puking babies, hearts jumping out of a chest, people sucked into a jet engine, face mauling badgers, and Justin Timberlake being beaten senseless. I haven’t even gotten to the politically incorrect and just plain offensive – making fun of foreigners, unattractive women and creepy clowns. I am a pretty insensitive guy, and even I was offended at some of this stuff.

Mayhem has been a theme for a couple of years now. I can only guess that this is what happens when big agencies try to make news rather than practice good marketing. They are trying to outdo each other and be outrageous to break through the clutter. This is classic example of agencies talking AT customers rather building a relationship and imparting information that could be used to make a buying decision. The whole Super Bowl ad culture has forgotten the purpose of advertising and marketing is to actually sell products and services.

What struck me the most about these ads is how all those marketing dollars could have been used more effectively. Here are just some rough ideas on how to better spend $3,000,000 using content based private custom media solutions.

1. Mining your customer and prospect database to create a quarterly magazine or newsletter with customized content to build a relationship of trust with your customers.
2. A frequent buyer’s affinity program aimed at your best customers to get them to spend more money and convert them to life long customers.
3. A series of interactive webcasts where you can give customers and prospects great information while creating a two-way dialog.
4. A custom Web site packed with content and an online video series with a viral component to build excitement about your brand and turn customers into brand evangelists.
5. A series of face-to-face events to get yourself closer to your customers. There is no substitute to getting your prospects to actually touch, feel and try your product. This works for both consumer and business offerings. If you want someone to try a new version of Pepsi then get it into people’s hands in a fun atmosphere. That will convert a lot more customers than a commercial that rips off a 1990’s Saturday Night Live skit

Two Ads I Really Liked

I thought the ad for the Audi R8 did the best job showing you the product in action and creating excitement for a new car. First they get you hooked with a parody of the Godfather. They even used an actor, Alex Rocco, from the original film. (He played Jewish gangster Moe Green, the bullet in the eye guy from the scene where Michael settles all family business). After getting the viewer sucked in they tease the car in action, which was impressive to say the least. The only reaction you can have is “Wow, I have to know more about that.”

The other ad I really liked was the Coke parade ad. While Pepsi tries to be cool and trendy, Coke takes a timeless, classic approach with cartoon characters. It was creative, fun and multi generational, using Charlie Brown, Stewie from Family Guy and Underdog. Just putting those three together was inspired. The best part was in the end poor old Charlie Brown gets the bottle of coke. It was a feel good, affinity building moment that stood out in a sea of mean-spirited commercials.

I am also compelled to mention that my media flavored NY vs. Boston Super Bowl game prediction was right on the money. The lesson – When Hubris comes up against Karma, always take Karma and the points.
 

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In a year packed with mostly forgettable ads, there’s one company people are still berating, for the second year in a row, for airing the Super Bowl’s worst ads.

We expected it – and CEO Vin Gupta promised it. Last year, the salesgenie.com ads “positively impacted” business to such an extent that Gupta followed the same tact this year. He even conceptualized the commercials and wrote the dialogue himself.

It’s not the bad accents, uninspired “storyline,” or even the crappy animation. It’s that the company came off looking cheap and low quality. And if the commercials made you curious enough to visit salesgenie.com, you’re in for a sorry surprise. Their Web site only enhances the low brow corporate image displayed in the television ads.

Moreover, isn’t it ironic that a company that specializes in sales leads – targeted selling to a qualified audience – would be so untargeted in their own sales campaign? Sure, they might have reached a million salespeople through their Super Bowl ads, but how many people who don’t give a damn about anything sales-related, saw those ads? Nearly 100 million – the waste was incredible. And for the $6 million spent on animated panda bears and evil bosses, they could have created a content-based, targeted private channel in which they actually create a relationship with their real prospects. How did a sales lead company, a company that sells to salespeople, miss that?

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Barack Obama has won the South Carolina primary by a big margin and trounced Hillary Clinton among voters under 30. The battle between Obama and Hillary has been positioned as a battle of race and gender, but I think there is something else at play. The real showdown between Obama and Hillary Clinton is generational. Hillary is the classic boomer, 60 years old, highlighting her 35 years of experience. Obama is of the next generation – only 46, and looking forward. Newsweek recently wrote a cover story declaring that this election will be all about 1968 and reliving those old battles. I could not disagree more. This contest symbolizes the generational change and will have major implications for media and marketing strategy.

Generational conflict has been much discussed over the years. I would consider the classic boomer generation as 1946-1959. They are now between 62 and 49, and their earliest influences are from the 60’s and early 70s. Generation X (1960-1975) is now between 48 and 33 strongly influenced by the 70 and 80’s. Let’s put generation Y at 1976 and 1998. These are 90’s internet generation. The millennials are 1998-present.

For the past 20 years the boomers have dominated and the Xers have been the kids and up and comers. Now the boomers are heading into their 60s and retirement. There is a major shift as the Xers move into leadership positions in government, business and academia. This is instructive because each generation’s early experience forms the way they view the world and interact with media.

Like Barack Obama, I am a Xer and just turned 44, which coincidently is the median age of current voters. That means 50% of the people voting in 2008 are younger than 44. Do you think they care about 1968? Let me be so bold to speak for my generation: we are so done with the 60’s. Thanks for all the protests, but we are worn out hearing about Woodstock, sit-ins, burning draft cards, ERA marches, the Beatles, Haight Ashbury, and free love. Enough already, it is time for change (maybe Obama is on to something). Reliving these tired battles has given us 16 years of gridlock and partisanship with our two boomer Presidents – Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and their counterparts in Congress. Future historians will likely look back at boomer-rule and see missed opportunities and failed leadership.

Here is a brief review of the early years of my generation’s memories: The end of the Vietnam War which we essentially lost, Watergate and Nixon’s resignation, a 12 year bear market, skyrocketing crime rates, double digit inflation and mortgage rates, and two Presidents (Ford and Carter) who were more famous for being made fun of than their accomplishments. Oh, and when we got to college – AIDS. That sure put a damper on free love. If it was not for bad news we wouldn’t have had any news at all.

This timeline of bad times led up to the turning point election of 1980 which brought us Ronald Reagan. He was the first President I voted for and campaigned for in 1984. He was enormously popular among young people in the 80s – today’s thirty and forty-somethings. It is easy to forget the job he did restoring confidence and strength in America. While the boomers continue to cling to the memories of JFK and RFK, we will always have Reagan. Our collective image is of Reagan staring down the Soviets, cutting taxes, joking after being shot, and comforting the county after the Challenger accident. He was a strong leader who projected honesty and optimism.

Barack Obama is a very skilled politician and as the first Xer to run for president, he is modeling himself more on Reagan than he may let on. His campaign brand symbol is an O that looks like a rising sun over a field – Morning in America. He also cleverly mentioned how Reagan was a transforming figure while dissing Bill Clinton at the same time. His target audiences for those comments are those 60% or so of voters under 50. The last few years have been tough; you could almost make an analogy to the late 70’s. The time is right to restore confidence, bring hope and change. Sounds like an Obama campaign speech - and one from Ronald Reagan in 1980.

I will counter Newsweek’s argument. Forget the 60’s, they are heading to the cut out bin of history. Whoever captures the mantel of Ronald Reagan will be our next President. This week on Meet the Press, John McCain sounded like a latter day Reagan, preaching a strong foreign policy and mentioning Reagan’s name several times. He reminds me of him with his genial manor and self depreciating humor. After winning in Florida last night, he is the front runner, and may be endorsed by former Reagan justice department official Rudy Giuliani at the Reagan Library.

We are down to the final four – will it be a turning point election with the Reagan-like change of Obama and McCain or more of the same with either Mrs. Bill Clinton or George Bush’s Harvard Business School classmate, Mitt Romney? If I am right about branding and generational shift, it will be Morning in America again. If I am wrong, wait til 2012.

Generation X may not take control of the White House in 2008, but, Xer’s are now settling into control of major corporations and of course of both mainstream and new media. And right behind them will be the even more tech savvy, online centric generations. Youth culture defines American culture – we are looking at a group of people who have declining loyalty to the mainstream media world and refer to print as dead tree media. These are not people who will respond to old fashioned traditional advertising and branding messages. How are you going to get by their texting, IPODS and TiVOs? The next generation just may be known as the Private Media generation.

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On Super Bowl Sunday, Fox will run 42 30 second spots taking in $2.7 million a pop. Marketers will spend almost $115 million in renting the Fox Super Bowl media channel. Add in production costs and agency fees, and we are looking at nearly $150 million spent on traditional broadcast ads during a three hour period. Here is my marketing prediction (game prediction below): The vast majority of this money will be wasted and it will be a poor choice of marketing tactic.

Next week we will look at some of the specific ads and discuss how that investment could have been better spent by creating a Private Media channel rather than renting the most expensive channel available.

To be fair, there is significant brand value in running these ads. You get tons of free press as wiseasses like me will be reviewing them the next day. Also, unlike the old days, you can now create a viral campaign around them with online video and other Web 2.0 tactics. However, the total cost of over 3 million for 30 seconds is insane considering what else you can do with that money.

Super Bowl Sunday has become a national holiday and many people watch the game with a group of friends who they really want to be with as opposed to other holidays when you are trapped with your relatives. Commercial breaks are used for eating, drinking, bathroom runs and socializing. You really don’t have the rapt attention of a room full a buzzed people, and they not in a shopping/buying mode.

Most of the ads are over-produced “branding” ads that do little to tell potential buyers the benefits of the product or service. Sometimes you can’t even tell who is sponsoring the ad until the end. This is when agencies pull out the stops to win awards and stroke egos.

Check back next week and the Think Tank team will let you know which ads we liked, which were a waste of money, and more importantly, how a Private Media Channel implementing any number of custom media solutions would have been a stronger, more measurable media investment.

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Read the January 11th WSJ article entitled “The Car That Got Away” and you’ll get a sense of what my wife puts up with fairly regularly. The timing of this article was perfect: after 60 days of online hunting on enthusiast Web sites and associations for one of my favorite cars from my youth (a 1979 Toyota Land Cruiser), I found it, about 2,600 miles away from my garage in Boston. But I found it, and it’s on a truck heading east as we speak.

What was truly interesting about this process were the people I spoke with along the way. No fewer than 45, either on the phone or through email. And every one of them was as excited as I was to talk about their cars. One of them sent a pound of gourmet coffee from Seattle as a thank you for considering his ride. Many poured over our company’s Web site, and asked me very insightful questions about our business. My favorite was a couple who sent voice-over samples of some of their client work, inviting me to learn more about their studio business – and I did. That was completely cool. Others sent videos of their cars in action off road, and made sure to customize them with brief cameos, saying, “Hey Cam, hope you liked the tape – we had fun making it for you.”

Our community was quickly built, private in scope and incorporated the following media channels:
Web sites – enthusiast sites with classified advertising that sold hard

Web-based Original Video – the product in action

Email to send photos and mechanical reviews

Telephone for one-to-one Q&A

Magazines and Newsletters which invigorated the category, and brought all of us together

A customized communication approach to a unique community – at King Fish, we call that creating a Private Media channel – where buyers and sellers create dialogue with one another in trusted environments. It is efficient, it is highly measurable, and it helped me bring home an old family friend.

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The contrast between Romney and McCain is equally dramatic in their approach to media. Sen. McCain, who has limited dollars, created ads where he just looked into the camera, told the voter who he is, why he is qualified and what he would do as President. Simple, on message and benefit-oriented to the voter. Because he didn’t have much money, he went directly to the voters in a Private Media strategy. He could not afford a media channel, so he built is own. He went from town to town and sat down with voters who asked him questions. No big speech, just an honest dialog between candidate and voter. He also took advantage of free media, making himself available for any and all who wanted to interview him. All the while, he stays right on brand message. He also comes across as warm and human.

On the other hand, Gov. Romney, who has and raised tons of money, started advertising in NH almost a year ago – and ads never really told you who he was and what he believed. They were a recording of him running off a laundry list a shop worn items he would do as president – lower taxes, cut spending, stop illegal immigration, stop terrorism, etc. Stop me if you heard this before. It was the ultimate in marketing campaigns created by consultants and committees, who conducted a big media assault, and spent tens of millions of dollars renting media channels - to little effect.

When it became clear McCain was gaining on him in the NH polls, he went negative in a big way. Here in the Boston market we get all the ads aimed at southern New Hampshire, and I am not exaggerating to say you could not get way from the barrage of negative advertising Romney aimed at McCain both on TV and radio. They were dreadful ads – the old school “man/woman in the street” fake interviews. Mock serious profiles of local NH voters telling us how McCain’s positions will ruin the country and make it hard on plain ol’ folks to raise a family. They made McCain out to be a cross between Karl Marx and Abbie Hoffman. Does anyone fall for this? Is there anyone who does not look at these types of ads and think they are not scripted Romney supporters or actors? These ads did not contain a single reason why you should vote FOR Romney, rather than just against McCain. The Romney campaign spent all this money and didn’t tell the voter anything about their man’s positions, who he is or why he should be President.

As we know now, they did not work. In fact, exit polling clearly told us that voters felt Romney ran an “unfair” campaign. Whether it is politics or business – comparative negative advertising just does not work. I don’t think people respond well to negative messaging. However, the real reason it does not work is that you are not giving the buyer a clear, benefit-oriented message of what you can do for them. In any type of marketing messaging you must create a dialog of affinity and trust to lead to action. In this case a vote. John McCain’s Private Media strategy and brand proposition led to a win, and maybe the Presidency.

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We often talk about Private Media in terms of for-profit corporations directly talking to customers and prospects by owning their media channel rather than renting time and space from large media companies. One of the many benefits of the private media approach is that the owner of the media channel gets to control the message – both the content and distribution.

We now see a rapidly growing movement where individuals are also creating private media channels – pretty easy with today’s Web 2.0 technologies. Between social networking sites and video sharing, anyone can create a private media channel with minimal effort.  All of the Presidential candidates are well down this road, and almost every rock star, actor and athlete worth their salt has their own Web site, myspace page, and has posted videos on YouTube for an interactive dialog with fans. While the primary motivation is promotion, it can also be used to communicate directly with fans, enabling the personality to control the message and environment while getting their message out there as fast as possible. One of the key rules of crisis management is getting the word out quickly and framing the conversation.

How many times on TV have we seen someone yell at their lackeys in anger, saying: “the press will have a field day”. (By the way, a field day is an opportunity for unrestrained activity, not a day of sports competition at school – thanks Encarta.) In the past, celebrities and companies were dependent on their PR machines pitching and spinning stories to the press and having no input as the press edits and positions the story. Once a negative story gets into the 24/7 news cycle it is well out of your hands, and indeed a field day ensues.

We are now seeing famous people taking their message directly to the people. When Rosie O’Donnell was battling ABC and Barbra Walters over her job on the View, she posted video blogs on her site for her fans and the media to pick up and replay. Rosie’s private media channel told her side of the story quicker than the Disney/ABC PR team could tell theirs. Baseball’s Roger Clemens did the same thing when responding to reports he used steroids. After a few days of silence he posted a video on his site and on YouTube to deny the allegations. He will appear on 60 Minutes this weekend, but he has already gotten his message directly to the public bypassing the 60 Minutes film editing room.

The newest private media channel took me by surprise – The British Royal Family has premiered their own royal channel on YouTube. This is where they posted the Queen’s annual Christmas message and other clips and archive footage. When one of the oldest and most traditional intuitions in the world embraces private media, it is clearly an idea whose time has come.

Consumers of media and information need to watch these videos with an attitude of buyer beware. This is an unfiltered message, which does not have the benefit of a journalistic screen – no fact checking or follow up questions.  On the other hand, there also no agenda or bias from the journalist or media company. This is especially attractive to polarizing and controversial figures such as Queen Elizabeth II and Roger Clemens. It bears watching how this trend will develop – as we can assume that more and more notable people and companies create their own private media channels.

How will the traditional media companies adapt? Will consumers put as much faith in messages directly from the sources, rather than through journalists? My guess is that we will come to expect the direct message from our actors, singers, athletes, politicians and corporations. It will be incumbent on corporations and others using private media to keep the content benefit-oriented and information rich when speaking to their customers and prospects rather than a sales pitch. With the right content, a private media channel can be more powerful than any ad or PR effort will ever be.
 

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I like my dry cleaning strong. Strong colors, strong creases, strong chemical smells. I want to peel my ultra-heavy starched shirts right off the hanger and feel as though I’m wearing a brand-new shirt. I want to lift up that plastic veil and marvel at the sight of my born-again wool coats. I want to be sure that my linen pants were dipped in pool of industrial-strength Oxy Clean and then lovingly hand-creased by a strong and meticulous Russian woman.

After a recent move, I decided to frequent a nearby location of the Zoots chain. “They have a delivery service, shoe repair AND in-store tailoring!” I salivated. “Boy, I bet they’ll crease my pants with pride. I’m there.”

And so began my year-long lukewarm affair with Zoots. At first, I was just vaguely dissatisfied with the fact that when I dropped clothes off, it was at least four days before I could pick them up. Then, I began to notice that the receipt they gave me for pick-up never had the cost on it. And the clothes just never…felt clean. More than anything, I just couldn’t shake the thought that they were trying to dupe me into paying more for what was truly some mediocre cleaning and even more mediocre service. 

So, my recent decision to try another dry cleaner was indeed premeditated. I packed up my silk shirts and tailored pants and headed to another local chain called Anton’s. I dropped my clothes off with ease, was told they’d be ready in two days, and received a pick-up receipt that had the cost of the cleaning prominently displayed. I was already off to a better start, I mused as I left the store.

About three days later, I reached into my mailbox to find a mysterious package with a hand-applied label and a stamp. I took a closer look and discovered it was a cheery, beautifully designed welcome package from Anton’s. I eagerly tore the package open and saw it included a welcome letter highlighting store locations, a bevy of coupons and a card with dry-cleaning tips, among other items.

Anton’s chose the precise media channel, direct mail, to reach me, and right after I had a very positive experience with them. The excellent timing, the variety of useful materials enclosed and the attractive, welcoming packaging all worked together to make me feel like they truly cared about serving me. They noticed I was a new customer, and they sent me a package to show they appreciated it. That’s perhaps one of the most simple, yet most important keys of customer retention – just showing you care. And no matter what people say about the death of direct mail, if it’s as well-executed as my package from Anton’ was, a simple $1 or $2 mailing might just earn you a customer for life.

Zoots may have cared about my business, but they certainly never showed it. And now that I have Anton’s to re-fresh my creases, I’m one happy customer. 

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This recent Boston Globe article does a nice job out outlining how media companies and advertisers are dealing with the DVR phenomenon.  Currently, 20% of US household have one, and that is projected to rise to 35% by the end of 2011 –representing 40 million households. Of course, the issue is the fast forwarding and skipping of commercials.  Once you own a DVR, your days of being a slave to the TV schedule and watching endless commercials are over. 

The fact that 40 million affluent household will be skipping commercials is not good news to the ad supported networks and cable channels.  Nor is it great news for ad agencies that create and run commercials for their clients over expensive “rented” media channels provided by the networks.

The article points out several fixes and solutions the networks are trying to force people to watch commercials by running fixed logo, making some programs so you can’t fast forward them; and coming up with commercials within the actual program.  I will predict right now that all of these will all fail because of one basic fact – the consumer is now in control of their media choices; and they do not want their TV watching interrupted by commercials that have no relevance to them.

Try this small personal experiment and it will bring it to life for you – watch two hours of network TV shows that you usually watch and are basically aimed at your demographic.  Take note of the commercials and keep count of how many are:

1. Of completely no interest to you and something you would never buy for any reason.
2. Of such poor marketing quality, you don’t even know what they are selling or what the benefits of the product being advertised are.
3. Advertising a product category you do buy, but it is brand you would never switch to because you are satisfied with your brand or you don’t like the brand advertised.
4. Advertising a product you already buy or plan to buy.

I will wager that 90%+ of the commercials that you see in that two hour block will fit into one of those four categories.  Think of the wasted dollars spent reaching you and others who are skipping the commercials or don’t care about them.  This type of advertising is a vestige of the past when broad based media – TV, radio, magazines and newspapers were the only option.  You could do some audience targeting via MRI, Arbitron and Nielson, but it is more art then science, and the waste is incredible.  Also, this type of advertising has little or no accountability.  You really have no idea how and if it works.

The big media companies and ad agencies have a vested interested in keeping this system going even though it is not an efficient use of the client’s marketing dollars.  Granted, there is ego involved here on the client side – marketers and their CEOs like to see their ads running on famous shows where their family and friends can see them.  It’s like those corporate branding ads that run during the Sunday morning news shows.  Please write to me if you can name a greater waste of marketing dollars. 

We are heading to an inflection point in the advertising/marketing business where companies are going to eventually put a stop to spending their money in this manner.  They will turn to custom and private media solutions to generate new leads and create a meaningful dialog with customers.  The technological change over the past 10-15 years (Web, wireless, DVRs, iPods) has changed the game for the delivery of media and marketing messages.  Broad-based advertising has its time and place, but some of that money being spent to create glitzy commercials could be redeployed to market to the company’s database.  Companies who master their customer and prospect database can own their media channel rather than rent it; and create specialized private media communication and content for their best customers and prospects.  Owning your media channel will provide a tangible ROI for the bottom line rather than a commercial that rents network time and where the clear likelihood is for a skipped, ignored and expensive message.

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It was early on a Thursday morning in Nashville, and sunlight streamed into the hotel lobby, glinting off the silver serving trays filled with pastries. A well-coiffed man walked up to the SunTrust Committed to Growth ev