Check out Adweek’s fascinating “behind-the-scenes” look at the planning and execution of Budweiser’s upcoming Super Bowl ad (http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/how-budweiser-created-an-epic-immigrant-story-to-reclaim-the-super-bowl-spotlight/ ).

Now, I’m not a big fan of Super Bowl advertising because I think there are better, more laser-focused and cost effective ways to reach target audiences. And, according to the Adweek feature, Bud is counting on the campaign to help turn around the brand’s sagging market share.

I’m not qualified to comment on whether the ad will, or won’t, bend more elbows in Bud’s direction but, in light of this past weekend’s protests at airports nationwide, the spot’s timing couldn’t be better.

Bud’s Super Bowl campaign follows the trials and tribulations of Adolphus Busch as he leaves his native European roots to travel all the way to St. Louis in 1857. It’s a period piece with period costumes and trappings, but a message that packs what appears to be an unintended political wallop in post-Trump America of early 2017.

Immigrants such as Busch are the men and women who made America great. Assuming the current madness that includes building walls, picking fights with long-time allies, cozying up to arch enemies and profiling, detaining and returning of Muslims can be stopped and turned around, immigration will once again make America great.

Little did Adolphus Busch know that his 170-year-old story would be more relevant today that it was in 1753.

I’m not a fan of beer in general or Budweiser in particular, but I’m a big believer in inclusiveness and diversity. It’s the special DNA that’s made us the greatest democracy in the history of the world. So, while I honestly don’t care if the ad does, or doesn’t help Bud, I salute them for sending the right message with the right tone at the right time.

Love the new president’s policies or hate them, many marketers are facing a conundrum: How to reconcile their future marketing campaigns with the stark reality of what we’re seeing unfold before our very eyes.

Does one bury one’s head in the sand and pretend it’s business as usual? Do pro-Trump brands aggressively underscore their ‘America First’ commitment to making products and hiring people? And, what about the countless purpose-driven organizations who have drawn a line in the sand, created a higher reason for their existence and support diversity and inclusiveness in everything they say and do?

AdWeek just ran a fascinating ad from a Lebanese nut-maker (no pun intended) that read, “The world’s gone nuts!” The CMO justified the bold message by saying that’s exactly how his target audience feels about Mr. Trump’s election. That makes sense to me since listening to, and engaging with, one’s audience is paramount to marketing success.

But what about here, in this incredibly divided country of ours? What’s a poor CMO to do?

Seeking advice, I turned to perhaps the finest journalist/influencer in the marketing world today: Stuart Elliott.

We’re Twitter buds, so I asked Stuart how American marketers will act, and react, in our new fake news, post truth Trumpland. His response: “Brands that have had pro-social campaigns in recent years are likely to run inclusive ads.”

That not only made perfect sense, it was also music to my ears.

As Thomas Paine might have written, “Now is not the time for sunshine marketers to turn a blind eye.”

I’d like to believe that, as Stuart suggested, purpose-driven, socially-conscious marketers WILL stick to their guns (Sorry. Poor word selection on my part).

Make no mistake that marketers whose campaigns anger Trump are very likely to engender the same kind of excoriation he’s meted out to the mainstream press, Alec Baldwin, Meryl Streep and so many others.

For conservative marketers who sell to the ‘base’, these are the best of times. But, for marketers who sell to all races, creeds and colors, it’s go time.

Do they fold up their moral and ethical tents and go home? Or, do they continue to follow their organization’s purpose and risk possible sanctions from the now “swampless” Beltway?

How marketers respond today will most certainly be remembered tomorrow.

 

 

 

Today’s Repman is penned by Peppercommer Carl Foster…

I don’t know about your industry but the world of PR is hotting up, and I find myself interviewing an increasing number of candidates.

When I interview people, particularly junior level candidates, I look for something I call the Apollo 17 principle.

You might be familiar with the Apollo principle. It’s the premise that everyone in an organization can pull together toward a common goal. It’s based on the 1960’s anecdote in which John F Kennedy, while on a tour of Cape Canaveral, asked a janitor what he did. “I’m helping put a man on the moon, sir” was the reply.

The Apollo 17 principle is different. It’s about valuing skills that are either innate or have taken a long time to develop over easier to develop skills, like PR and marketing.

Following Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon in 1969, NASA launched five more Apollo missions, each manned with highly trained astronauts – the objective being to study the lunar surface. That required the skills of a geologist, so the astronauts undertook geology classes.

But here’s the thing, NASA realized that instead of an astronaut trained in geology, what they actually needed was a geologist trained as an astronaut. It turned out to be easier to layer astronaut training over years of study in geology than train astronauts to sort the lunar wheat from the lunar chaff. Step forward Harrison Schmitt, who studied geology at CalTech and Harvard. Schmitt was the Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 17, and now, with the passing of Gene Cernan yesterday, he is now the last living person to have walked on the moon.

The result of putting a geologist on the moon was that the Apollo 17 crew returned more rock of more value to earth than any other lunar mission.

So if you’re thinking of applying to Peppercomm but don’t have a background in PR or marketing, don’t let that immediately dissuade you, especially for entry level positions.

The same principle applies to skills and traits rather than experience. I once interviewed a junior candidate with zero PR or marketing experience, but she had set up dance schools in Africa, interned at foreign embassies and generally had an all-around “can do” approach to life. Unfortunately, she didn’t join Peppercomm, but wherever she lands, the astronaut part of her career will be easy to learn. She has the geology part sorted.

A few years back, I had the rare opportunity to lunch with the legendary Harold Burson.

I put him on the spot and asked him to name the one strategy Burson took in the 1960s and ’70s to overtake Hill & Knowlton in the ’80s as the world’s largest PR firm.

He paused and then said, “That’s easy. We insisted every single account team accompany a client’s salesman on his calls. By listening first-hand to the client’s customer’s wants and needs we crafted precisely tailored campaigns that rang true with target audiences and ran rings around our competitors’ work.”

I followed up by asking if Burson continued to follow his strategy. He shook his head and said, “Nope. And, I have no idea why we don’t.”

I cite this conversation because Matthew Schwartz who, in my opinion, knows more about how PR works than the collective staffs of every trade publication’s editorial staff combined, just penned an article for CMO.com that illustrates exactly how far ahead Mr. Burson was in his thinking.

I’ll let you peruse the full text but, the bottom line is this: CMOs (and, one would assume CCOs) are just now waking up to the brilliance of tag-teaming client and prospect calls with sales AND marketing executives in attendance.

Schwartz spotlighted a company called Legrand North America, which sends sales and marketing executives on sales calls. They believe sales and marketing, in tandem, can better close the sale when push comes to shove.

“Wrong!” As a certain president-elect would say.

Marketing communications executives SHOULD attend as many sales pitches as possible. But, they shouldn’t be part of the pitch. They should bring their listening skills with them and home in on EXACTLY what’s keeping customers and prospects up at night. To quote a recurring character from Seinfeld, “That’s gold, Jerry. Gold.” Why? Because it assures the subsequent campaign will deliver.

Primary, qualitative research runs rings around the panacea of the day, Big Data, and its cousin, Data Analytics.

But, I’m not aware of a single integrated marketing firm that implements what the Burson of PR Past practiced. None.

We dabble at it. And, when we have, it’s produced immediate results. But, I blame myself for not insisting it be embedded into every single client assignment. And, I blame every CMO and CCO who relies solely on quantitative-heavy Big Data to shape their campaigns. We’re better than that.

Nothing replaces primary research. And, there’s no better way to invest in a client relationship than to INSIST the account team tag along on sales calls, listen carefully and shape the campaign accordingly.

Sadly, we’ve become enamored with data and analytics to tell us what to do.

I’m taking a guess here, but I’ll bet if Big Data had existed in the ’60s and ’70s, Mr. Burson would have taken it very seriously. But I’d also like to think he’d still insist his account team attend sales meetings and listen, first-hand, to exactly what the end user’s pain points were and how the client was best positioned to solve them.

Would that the greats of the past could opine on the ‘best practices’ of today. I’d be willing to bet the big names of the past would probably be the biggest opponents of the Big Data driven campaigns of today.

 

 

My firm’s in the midst of arguably the coolest proprietary research project in our 21 years of existence.

It involves more than 30 in-depth, qualitative interviews of Fortune 500 CCOs and CMOS. Note my use of the word qualitative.

While digging deep into such darlings of the marketing communications world as earned, owned and paid media along with, of course, digital and Big Data, robotics and A.I. we uncovered a rather interesting disconnect.

I’ve been surprised to hear how many CCOs and CMOS are not only totally overwhelmed by data but highly SKEPTICAL of the resulting analytical findings. As it turns out, they’re not alone.

A recent KPMG survey of the aforementioned cohort revealed that, while 50 percent use data and analytics tools to analyze existing customers, 48 percent to find new ones and 47 percent to develop new products, less than half “don’t TRUST that analytics is actually providing insights beneficial to ANY of these areas.” Talk about an indictment.

I heard this exact skepticism from the CCO of a global manufacturing company. She said she scrutinizes every morsel of analytical data, takes time to conduct her own qualitative research and then relies on her GUT instincts to determine the eventual marcom strategy.

We do the exact same thing for our clients because, frankly, Big Data, no matter how powerful, cannot possibly replace the gut instincts of a seasoned marketing communications professional who’s been through countless wars.

We’ve proved this time and again when, after analyzing the Big Data (and analytics) a client’s research firm has provided, put ourselves in the shoes of constituents and personally experience the brand. We’ve ALWAYS uncovered gaps Big Data missed.

So, I come here not to bury Big Data but, rather, to echo what the very best marketing and communications pros are telling me: Spend all the money you want collecting the data and analyzing it, but DO NOT move forward if the data tells you one thing while your gut says to take a different course of action.

 

 

 

The news reports from the Consumer Electronics Show (otherwise known as “The Woodstock of the Nerds”) are chock full of articles about the impact of artificial intelligence on virtually every new product on display.

And yet Apple’s iPhone keypad remains frozen in the year 2012. It also remains at the top of my unrequited holiday wish list.

Please fix the damn thing. Or can some Zuckerberg wanna-be do so and steal the entire market? Please.

The iPhone keypad exists to exacerbate the angst in a world of uncertainty (great new tagline, BTW). It distorts, dismays or embarrasses the sender while totally confusing the reader.

Case in point: Not too long ago a pleased as punch client sent a highly complimentary e-mail to our entire team in which she praised their “sexual efforts.” Now, we pride ourselves on being a full service agency but that’s clearly above and beyond the call of duty.

Naturally, the client was mortified by her mistake and quickly apologized. But, the damage had been done. The Apple iPhone autocorrect had claimed yet another victim.

In fact, unless one is a president-elected gifted with unusually small fingers, typing a grammatically correct e-mail, Tweet or text is akin to stopping North Korea’s nuclear plans. Ain’t gonna happen.

To wit, I’ll write the next paragraph without checking autocorrect at all. Wish me luck:

“Vexbeen. Hear to be both a Jets and Mets fan. s a result, I’ve grown accustomed tonmisery and biting into false expectations. But I also think Mets and Heys fans are better equipped to face the uncertainties of life after January 20th because we’ve been tough to ecboect a bleak future.”

The preceding graph concerned the unexpected benefits of being a lifelong Mets and Jets fan in a Post Truth world.

So, how about it, Apple? Can you set aside a billion dollars or two to fix this horrific design? Ironic that the company that’s become synonymous with beautiful design turns out to be the ugly duckling of virtual communication.

FamilyBreakFinder, a travel website, recently compiled the English-language tourism slogans of more than 150 countries (Man, it must have been an especially quiet day at FBF to find the time for that assignment). Click on this link to access the full report

Anyway, there are some really clever and funny ones as well as those that do their best to make do with what they have. To wit:

- Nepal (home of the Himalayas) “Once is not enough”

- “Remarkable Rwanda” (I’m not sure I buy that one after seeing “Hotel Rwanda)

- Syria: “Always beautiful” (No comment necessary)

- Honduras: “Everything is here” (I wonder if their definition of everything is the same as mine? I’m guessing no)

- Denmark: “The happiest place on Earth” (Also the most boring. After touring Copenhagen, there’s not much to do except to count the days until you return)

- Cape Verde: “No stress” (Probably true, but I have to believe getting to such a remote locale is beyond stressful)

All of which leads me up to the person, government agency or tourism bureau responsible for updating the good, old U.S. of A’s tourism slogan.

How’d you like to be responsible for coining the new fake news, post truth, complete lack of civility, badly divided country’s welcoming tagline?

Here are a few thoughts (but, I’d welcome yours as well):

- “Red state. Blue state. You’ll enjoy your stay. As long as you pick the right state”

- “Where the cradle of democracy has tipped over”

- “Where one-way trips are the new normal”

- “Where yesterday trumps tomorrow” (my personal favorite)

- “We’ll decide if you’re welcome”

- “Just leave us the hell alone”

- “If you liked Russia, you’ll LOVE America”

I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled to see how the U. S. Travel & Tourism Board does alter its slogan after January 20th. It should be great. The best ever. Beautiful. Everyone loves us so why shouldn’t it be?

 

 

Did you know the image of the American college town has been redefined from the bucolic New England village with tree-lined quads and ivy-covered neo-Gothic buildings to vibrant cities of “eds” and “meds?”

So says Jeffrey J. Selingo, author of There Is Life After College.

Today, in every one of the 20 largest U.S. cities, a college, university or medical center is among the top 10 employers in town. You won’t find those sorts of stats at Colby, Ramapo or Oberlin.

That’s because cutting-edge colleges have re(de?)signed the urban education experience and are running rings around their smaller, rural peers.

A survey called the College Destinations Index ranks the top schools in four ways:

• Impact of off-college student experience
• Economic health of the surrounding community
• Cultural advantages offered within walking distance of campus
• Employment opportunities

Boston, San Jose, Boulder and Ithaca came out on top.

Colleges and universities in these four areas in particular (Shout out: Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington, DC, scored equally well) have had the foresight to do two things:

• They’ve fully integrated with the surrounding community (you won’t see Harvard or Yale-type brick walks separating, say, Drexel from its neighboring Philadelphia neighborhoods).
• They’re located where the strategic jobs of the future will be in greatest demand.

Boston, for example, plays home to countless hospitals, medical device manufacturers, cyber security think tanks and advanced engineering companies (to name just a few). These fields are what Northeastern University President Joseph Aoun calls, “robot-proof professions” and areas where students with a passion for careers in such disciplines should be studying.

Across the country, USC is another world-class example of an urban school that’s connected with the surrounding community and now is a vibrant part of LaLa Land (as well as a great place to pursue a career in media, entertainment and the arts).

There are countless other examples, but the big message here is to think twice before enrolling in a small, isolated liberal arts school (a la Iona, Drew or Haverford). And think twice before declaring a major: incredibly, 65 percent of the jobs that will exist in 10 years have yet to be invented.

So, do your homework, identify your passion, match it with an urban university that will provide the richest cultural experience and maybe, just maybe, you’ll not only be able to pay off those dreaded college loans a whole lot sooner, you might actually one day earn more money than your parents.