Canuckflack

1. I didn’t really mean THAT KIND of community relations

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   January 31, 2006 by Colin

   Over at Boxtank, Geoff and Emily point out that opponents of the new Wal-Mart in Lincoln, Nebraska have some concerns about what those damn kids will get up to in the yard:

   “If you have never lived close to a large retail establishment, you cannot possibly imagine all the problems that would be coming your way. Don’t ever expect to have a yard free of trash again. Don’t forget to plan for the after-hour parties that develop in the parking lot with noise, fights and empty beer bottles and cans. Plan for the cars that will park in your drive or in the street when the party group starts dividing up to make out in their cars.“(Letter to the Editor, Lincoln, NB)

   

   Really? I’d be more worried about the retirees setting up camp in the parking lot.

   Not only does Wal-Mart’s open welcome for campers to spend the night undermine local campgrounds, it encourages septuagenarian intercourse right in front of the garden centre.

   I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not see Ralph Furley’s “o face” – especially through the back of a shaggin wagon covered in two tone siding.

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2. Nick Robinson: improvement needed in political reporting

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   January 30, 2006 by Colin

   Nick Robinson, of the BBC delivering the Philip Geddes memorial lecture at Oxford University this past Friday:

   “Many politicians are angry that at election time viewers saw and heard more of me, Marr & Boulton than them. Let’s be clear why this came about – because audience research suggested viewers wanted “a trusted guide” – a sort of sherpa to get them up the cliff face of political jargon and obfuscation.

   Small step from them – learn, as Andy Marr memorably put it, to speak “fluent human”. Small step from us – cut back on pointless “two-ways”. We have too often replaced politicians who don’t speak fluent human with reporters who don’t either.

   All too often – as Broken News has painfully reminded us – a two-way is an excuse to put the word “Live” on the screen next to a man who says “As I said in my report…” who’s standing somewhere where something did happen but stopped happening many hours earlier.”

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3. Blogger junkets: does that make a blogger your pimp or your bitch?

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   January 27, 2006 by Colin

   So, the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions is working with BlogAds to send 25 bloggers on a five star trip to Amsterdam. As Henry describes it, these bloggers will participate in a custom ad package tailored for their specific blog styles and voices, as well as contribute to interviews to be featured on a standalone website. There’s no commitment to write about the trip in their actual blog.

   Fine. Henry is quite upfront that this is a custom ad package, not the traditional “send a freelancer to our new hotel in Bali so he’ll write a puff piece for Parade” junket.

   Steve, though, inflates the idea:

   “…I am a fan of blogger junkets – if you can afford them. I think they have a lot more potential than traditional media junkets to build buzz because you can do things with bloggers that the press would frown on.

   … So, blog junkets are empowerment programs. Now I am not saying that blogger bribing should be your primary goal here. However, if you remain transparent and can walk the fine line between helping bloggers and engaging them in a real dialogue to get feedback (warts and all), you’re going to build word of mouth. As always, remain ethical, truthful and transparent.

   What’s in this transaction for the blogger? Is it only a free trip? Even if they’re completely transparent about the arrangement, are well profiled bloggers actually willing to trade their valuable brand identity, hard-earned reader trust and perceived editorial independence for a trip and some ad placements?

   Isn’t this junior varsity league behaviour? This is the sort of “pay for play” crap that’s always pitched to corporate PR staff. With this deal, a boxload of shiny vanity pubs for the corporate waiting area are replaced by a couple of blog posts?

   Don’t get me wrong – I can see the value in the transaction for the sponsor/client. It’s a good idea to pitch as a public relations consultant. But I thought blogs were beginning to build some editiorial credibility?

   Somewhere, a magazine publisher is wetting his pants thinking of this arrangement. Chinese wall between advertising and editorial? GONE! He can only imagine a freelancer writing his feature for free, their only compensation the free minibar almonds and ogling the rich girlfriends at the pool bar!

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4. Well the Bradys can Kiss Ma Grits!

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   January 26, 2006 by Colin

   

   Via Jefito, drunkatwork gives us the theme songs from The Brady Brides, Alice, Angie and Joanie Loves Chachi.

   Of course, virtually any theme song you could want can be found at mythemes.tv. Like the anodyne stylings of thirtysomething.

   Or classic ads, like this fantastic 1982 jingle for Tab cola.

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5. Glory walls: See! I told you I knew the President!

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   January 25, 2006 by Colin

   John Dickerson continues his subconscious obsession with celebrity photos, this time with a discussion about the hierarchy of glory walls:

   “Certain photos are worth more than others. Take presidential photos, for example. The Valenti photo is at the top: a picture that places you at a world-historical event. Next in prestige: you and the president, in casual clothes. After that: a shot of a president at your house. Below that, you and the president on Air Force One or in the Oval Office. And last: shaking hands with the president at some enormous, impersonal event. (Slate)

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6. Numeracy and literacy: making accomodations in important documents

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   January 25, 2006 by Colin

   Do you even stop to think of the literacy skills among your target audience? What about the application of effective design to speed understanding? Maybe can apply some of the important work being conducted in the pediatric community to simplify consent forms.

   Frankly, parents have a heard time interpreting relative levels of risk. And the poor communications skills exhibited by most doctors doesn’t help.

   “At the University of Michigan, Dr. Alan Tait has been working with colleagues in the department of anesthesiology to develop an improved consent form aimed at parents with low literacy skills whose children are facing surgery.

   “Using simpler, friendlier language is just the first step,” Dr. Tait said. The form in one experimental survey of 305 parents was vastly preferred by those who read well in addition to those with low literacy skills. It also used a larger typeface, shorter paragraphs, illustrations and bulleted points to help clarify the message.

   Elsewhere, health literacy specialists are working on audio or video consent forms – interactive audiotapes or DVD’s that can be navigated at a patient’s own pace via a telephone keypad, a touch-screen kiosk or an inexpensive DVD player.

   Most rely on live-action vignettes and colorful images instead of dense blocks of text to explain complicated concepts like the risks and benefits of different types of blood pressure medicines or asthma inhalers or the ins and outs of glucose monitors used for diabetes.” (NYTimes)

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7. Political bloggers: open-source or public domain speechwriters?

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   January 24, 2006 by Colin

   David Perlmutter thinks aloud about the interplay between political bloggers, the online exchange of ideas and information, and the carnivorous appetite for new speech fodder by politicians.

   “A purist like me would love to be able to say that the uncited lifting of material, no matter what the source, the destination, or the outcome, is always wrong. But if almost all other forms of traditional political speech are essentially falsely–but with a wink!–attributed to an author other than the original, then why not the content of political blogs?

   Perhaps we will see yet another evolution of the role of political bloggers: open-source or public domain speechwriter.”

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8. 867-5309: Jenny’s gaming your Retail CRM Solution

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   January 24, 2006 by Colin

   Yet another retailer has started asking for my phone number, “so we can serve you better, sir!” I like shopping there, but not enough to let them track and target my purchasing habits. The very dutiful image of a dedicated shopper, I hand over my cell phone number – with the digits transposed at random. A cell phone that has outward call display blocked, so that it doesn’t even show up in reverse directories.

   There isn’t much dedication in the clerk’s request, a clear sign that they’re used to getting questions – and sometimes abuse – in response. I wonder if I could just feed them a 555 number? Would the cashier care? What about 867-5309? Would they even notice? “Geez. That’s a popular number?”

   Somewhere, there has to be a data warehouse filled with purchasing, market and demographic information about consumers who feed 867-5309 into CRM solutions. What does all this data reveal about these conscientious objectors from the “customer personalization” trend? What sort of purchases ARE THEY making? Are they high income, low income? Devoted to fair trade products, or more likely to buy 99c hot dogs from late night convenience stores?

   And how many of them owe late fees to their local Blockbuster? (“i just can’t seem to reach this guy!)

   “Jenny, Jenny, who can I turn to?
   You give me something I can hold on to.”

   I’ll tell you who’s collecting information on Generation X consumers called Jenny: car manufacturers. Christopher Sawyer wrote about Honda and Ford’s attempts to profile the target consumer for their new Civic and Fusion models:

   “Six years ago “Jennifer”, a young woman now in her 30s, was Honda’s 20-something target for the 2000-2005 Civic. Now Jennifer is moving up to sporty mid-size cars, though sticking with four doors for practicality. And — even more amazing — she is abandoning Honda for Ford. Now Honda understood what had happen to their beloved Civic, and why so many formerly loyal customers had abandoned Honda for car makers with more exciting wares. One need look no further than the 2006 Honda Civic concept to realize that Honda learned its lessons from the “scientific” approach used to develop the present Civic to know it must trust its gut, and only look to the marketing studies for validation.”(Automotive Design and Production)

   One-to-one marketing seems an appealling concept: personalized marketing messages tailored just to my liking! Discounts, personal mailings and special sales just for “members”! Yes – in the right hands.

   In the wrong hands, you’ll end up drinking from a firehose of direct mail and telemarketing, all vapidly fed by an uninterested retail clerk.

   Technorati: personalised marketing demographics CRM

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9. NASCAR and Toyota: the Big Three better find their chequebook

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   January 23, 2006 by Colin

   

   It was inevitable: Toyota is busing beating the Big Three auto companies at home and abroad, and now they’ll be fielding a team in NASCAR’s Busch series and Nextel Cup series. If you listen carefully, you can hear the good ole boys yelping and muttering even as Ford and GM keep layering rebates, discounts and employee pricing on their SUVs and trucks, barely keeping out of bankruptcy.

   The car of choice for the challenger? The Camry. Toyota will provide the manufacturing and technical expertise, and the teams will line up sponsorship.

   It will be interesting to see how this affects the smaller Nextel Cup teams who already find it difficult to build, test and field a multi-car team. Even the dominant team is beginning to whine.

   NASCAR likely won’t change their mind, though. As one racing site reminds us: ” Where will NASCAR go? Straight to the bank as usual. Never forget, this is not a Sport, it’s Sport Entertainment Business.”

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10. Moving the conservative movement to the left, one John Hughes movie at a time.

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    January 22, 2006 by Colin

    As the Conservatives seem poised to assume power in Canada for the first time in 12 years, I stumbled across this comment from David Cameron, the leader of the Conservatives in United Kingdom, earlier this month. Either Cameron has a fondness for John Hughes movies, or his speechwriter is a smart alec Generation X type.

    “A few days after becoming leader, I was asked whether I wanted to replace Blairism with Cameronism and what the difference was between the two. The truth is, I’m not interested in either. That’s because I don’t believe in ‘isms’.

    Words like communism, socialism, capitalism and republicanism all conjure up one image in my mind: extremism. For politicians to stick rigidly to an ideology is to court disaster.” (Conservative Party website/Mail on Sunday)

    What? That sure sounds like Ferris Bueller:

    “I did have a test today. That wasn’t bullshit. It’s on European socialism. I mean, really, what’s the point? I’m not European, I don’t plan on being European, so who gives a crap if they’re socialist? They could be fascist anarchists – that still wouldn’t change the fact that I don’t own a car. Not that I condone fascism, or any ism for that matter. Isms in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an ism – he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon: “I don’t believe in Beatles – I just believe in me”. A good point there. Of course, he was the Walrus. I could be the Walrus – I’d still have to bum rides off of people.”(working script)

    Some analysis of Tory reaction to Cameron’s piece by the New Statesman: Tory “leader writers sounded as if they had discovered mouse droppings in a relative’s kitchen.”

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11. Politics is retail – and you may just take a puck in the mouth

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    January 21, 2006 by Colin

    Given a choice between a politician and a hockey player, most Canadians will make a move for the guy with less teeth. Politicians who try to weeze da juice of the national sport usually end up looking out of place and decidedly unathletic (unless they’re Ken Dryden).

    One candidate in the current national election found a way to marry the two at last night’s Ottawa 67s game. Out in front of the arena, a young volunteer was handing out brief flyers explaining the Conservative Party’s proposal for a tax credit based upon the registration fees paid for youth sports activities like hockey, swimming, soccer and skating.

    A message that should resonate, aimed at a potentially receptive audience. Sitting directly in front of us was a complete PeeWee hockey team and their parents. Families could be seen throughout the arena. The 67s are a minor hockey team that emphasizes entertainment and links to the community.

    There aren’t any $2 million contracts for naming rights for the arena. The place is full of ads for sub shops, accountants and construction companies. Sure, minor hockey still comes up with the occasional embarassing promotion. On the whole, however, these teams survive by selling space for targeted messages by local companies.

    This was a political message, but it was squarely aimed at the people who normally attend minor hockey games, and promised real benefits.

    Oh yeah – of course the flyer included a picture of the smiling Conservative candidate as well.

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12. FloHo and Barney Miller – peddling pills to the elderly

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    January 18, 2006 by Colin

    

    What, exactly, is wrong with Florence Henderson? “Our test markets didn’t respond as well to her as Hal Linden,” said a spokesperson for Cigna Health Care. Hal “Barney Miller” Linden has pushed out FloHo as the star in the ads for their Medicare prescription plan.

    But what do Cigna’s test markets have against Carol Brady? Does the boomer generation still think she coddled Marcia, at the expense of the other girls? Maybe she should have seen that whole Mike Brady batting for the other team thing coming? Or maybe her modern parenting style still repels the over-70s dependent on Medicare?

    Or is it Hal? That moustache. The suit vests. His calm confident control of the squad room. Crime didn’t win in his precinct – unless Fish was on the case. Could boomers and septuagenerians alike see Hal as a crime and punishment figure? A trusted neighbourhood cop looking out for them? A reliable pimp for prescription drug plans?

    

    Or is he just a poor man’s Gregory Peck?

    (Cigna quote from Stuart Elliott’s NYT newsletter)

    Technorati: pharma advertising boomer

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13. Timothy Crouse, he ain’t.

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    January 16, 2006 by Colin

    Paul Wells points to the growing bandwagon trailing behind the Conservative party leader:

    “Greetings from the record-breaking third emergency media bus the Harper campaign has laid on, in response to higher-than-average interest in what the Calgary MP is up to this week.

    That’s right. The first bus is for electronic media. The second is for print. And the third is for stragglers and slow learners, including me, the guy from CJAD, and Rick Mercer. Fortunately Bogdan the techie has this thing wi-fi’d up, so I can blog inanely.”

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14. Starbucks – one step closer to being a straight up multinational pimp

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    January 15, 2006 by Colin

    I was puzzled by the news that Starbucks had struck up a distribution deal with Lions Gate fims – as was Church of the Customer.

    The marketing strategy associated with the deal seems suitably low-key for the coffee chain, but I can’t help but think the growing number of ancillary products sold at Starbucks – cds, dvds – will erode the admittedly false atmosphere of calm reflection currently valued by authors, bloggers, self-employed professionals and the status-conscious?

    “… Starbucks baristas will get to preview the film in hopes they will create buzz among customers. In early April, the chain will begin in-store promotions, ranging from advertising on cup sleeves to spelling-related trivia games on its chalk boards, and pastry case displays featuring words spelled in the film. (Globe & Mail)

    How long until Starbucks offers movie promo items (organic, made from recycled products and fair trade) with every seasonal special?

    Technorati: marketing branding Starbucks third place

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15. McDonalds – we will fight them in the alleys, we will beat them with sausages

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    January 15, 2006 by Colin

    McDonald’s defeated by a small town baker – in 2002. In case you missed it (and you didn’t if you read organic food blogs), the NYT essentially reprinted an article from Libération, recounting the opening of a new McDonald’s in Altamura, Italy in 2001 and its closure in 2002.

    For marketers, the message is that local businesses can compete with large multinational franchises – if they compete on price AND offer a distinctive product. A touch of cultural hauteur doesn’t hurt either.

    “Then there is the local food – cheap and overwhelmingly good – and the people who have eaten it for centuries and consider it as much their tradition as their history. Odd as it might seem in a corporate boardroom, they put no value on a McDonald’s in Altamura.

    “The majority couldn’t imagine McDonald’s becoming an integral part of their lives,” said Patrick Girondi, 48, an entrepreneur from Chicago who has lived here for 15 years. “McDonald’s didn’t get beat by a baker. McDonald’s got beat by a culture.”

    The NYT accompanies their translation with a slide show of happy Altamurans picking up their fresh foccacia (looks quite good, actually).

    If you want to get the story with more of an antiglobalization, anti-industrial food preparation bent, be sure to read the original article in french: Libération.

    “De nombreux mois ont passé depuis cette retraite en rase campagne de la grande multinationale américaine, mais Onofrio Pepe en rit encore :«Avec son mât comme totem, McDonald’s pensait nous assiéger ! Mais c’est nous qui les avons encerclés et bombardés � coups de saucisses, de fouaces et de pain local. Nous sommes parvenus � les repousser.»”

    Technorati: community building artisinal McDos

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