Digital Tethers: Social Media and Relationships

One of the things that makes New York so unique is that it is a big repository of every kind of person.  I’ve marveled at the notion that I can (and often do) see friends from all walks of life on any given weekend.  I can stroll through Central Park with the girl who painted rainbows with me in kindergarten, then get dinner with a guy who sat near me in AP Lit, meet a college buddy for drinks, and then text a former colleague about our brunch reservation on the way home.  But it’s not just New York.

Social media keeps everything and everyone suspended in midair, completely tethered to each other.  I feel as connected — if not closer — to my brothers now, thousands of miles away, because their faces appear on my newsfeed.  And in recent years, I’ve nurtured close friendships with people with whom, in high school, I shared little more than a bus route.

My earliest digital friendship began a decade ago.  I was a music journalist for the Fort Myers News-Press and, by Spring 2003, had published at least a few pieces on our hometown heroes, an up-and-coming metal band called Twisted Method.  One day, I got an email from a girl named Candace from New Jersey, who found my articles when she did a web search for Twisted Method (google was not a verb and barely a noun at this point).  She loved the band — as did I.  After several emails, we learned we shared similar taste in music as well as a passion for live shows.  So we kept in touch — initially on AIM and MySpace. I’ve received several Christmas cards from her.  She listened to me cry on the phone after a tragic event in 2005.  Today, we are Facebook friends, and peering through the window of Instagram photos, I get to know her adorable son.  I still haven’t met Candace.

Now that I live in New York, we’re not only connected by these digital tethers and the invisible bond of a 10 year friendship, we’re linked by a few stops on the New Jersey Transit.  But we haven’t made plans to meet.  Will we?  The topic has come up once or twice, but maybe we are comfortable this way.  If our friendship has lasted a decade, I won’t stress about the train tracks and remain grateful for our digital tethers.  Even though it lives through a backlit screen, our friendship is real.

Connecting a large part through social media doesn’t make things any less valuable.  Nor does it feel distant at all — unlike the pen pal exchanges of yore.  While it doesn’t remove the value of spending time with a person in the living, breathing flesh (super important), it rather enhances our experiences.  In fact, thanks to Facebook and texting, my relationships are stronger and closer across the board. It’s a way of life now — in New York and far, far beyond.

Fan-Focused: Foo Fighters at Madison Square Garden!

Yesterday afternoon I made the best last-minute decision of my life (aside from enrolling at Northeastern).  The Foo Fighters, the last remaining band on my concert bucket list, were set to play MSG and I just could not live with myself if I sat idly by.  I checked the resale sites and got a considerably good deal from StubHub a mere three hours prior to the event, whose Last Minute Service center in Times Square allowed ticket pickup up to 30 min. after the start of the event.  Win!

It was an absolutely perfect event, completely centered around the fans.  Foo’s stage was built without any obstructive backdrops so that even fans behind the stage could see.  The general admission field was split down the middle with a barricaded aisle so Dave Grohl could run deep into the crowd and ascend the small stage in the back, which raised Grohl to the heavens like the rock & roll god he is, to serenade fans in even the shittiest of seats.  And the best part?  The Foo Fighters played for OVER THREE HOURS.  And they brought out JOAN JETT for a cover of “Bad Reputation.”  Incredible.

This would’ve been one of the best concerts of my life as it is.  The Foo Fighters are rock legends and one of the most entertaining acts of all time.  But the show was proof that the Foo Fighters are a fan’s band, focused entirely on giving their loyal following their all– literally.  They gave their maximum radius, their maximum time, their maximum set-list.  They have obviously heard fans’ wishes and complaints over the past sixteen years and have done whatever they can to accommodate all who show up.  Not just the premium ticket holders.  Thus, it becomes a true exchange, a fabulous relationship.  Thank you, Foo Fighters!  Well done!

Photo by Guy Eppel

 

— Carrie Knific

Marvelous Marketing: Stella Artois

Let me tell you a little bit about my purchasing style.  I’m sitting here wrapped in the Charisma Faux Fur throw I bought at Costco.  I type this on a MacBook Pro, which sits atop a placemat from Target, which is on a black table from IKEA that I built myself.  To my right, a black mug is half-filled with my favorite coffee, Lavazza Qualita Rossa, which I buy in cans at Eataly in Flatiron.

What does this say about me?  I make purchases at a low-medium price point, but my tastes are fine.  I respond to words like “luxury” and “ultra soft.”

Now, let’s say I was offered a choice between wine and beer.  You would probably guess I’d choose wine, and you would be correct.

But lately, I have been almost willing to make an exception.  On TV and in passing the beer case at Duane Reade, Stella Artois just looks so pretty.  In fact, it’s so pretty that you forget it shares the same category as  DUDE!  BRO!  DUDE! brewskis like Bud Light, Keystone, etc.  The Anheuser-Busch Belgian beauty has been leveraging sophistication pretty hard lately in fully integrated terms.  The packaging and bottling, the ads, and the web content is all bound by inferences of french accents, strange European humor, the chalice, and crisp, clear champagne bubbles.  Anything more and it would be wearing pearls.

The smell of beer used to remind me of Metallica concerts… which also reminded me of cigarettes, tank tops, and pickup trucks with fake testicles hanging from the hatch.  Stella always seemed different to me, if only because of that sexy French name.  But their marketing team has been able to push this difference into a whole league of its own.  Now there’s a fancy beer at regular beer availability.  I’d love to know the effects of this campaign– did they bring new people to the beer market?  I also wonder if it is “beer enough” for the regular American beer demographic.

I’ve not yet bought the product, but next time I’m in a beer-only situation, this will surely be the first option to come to mind.  Well done, Stella!

— Carrie Knific

Fighting Dapper with Dapper

This isn’t brand new, but I love it and think about it all the time.

In 2010, Mercedes started launching TV spots featuring shots of their cars swerving and roaming as sexy as ever– but what mattered was the voice-over.  John Hamm, better known as Don Draper on AMC’s Mad Men, represents the ultimate in sophistication, mystery, and talent.  Excellent choice, Mercedes. The definition of class, a perfect complement for your brand.  I could imagine Don slip into a Mercedes as slick as his suit.  Especially if you’re in Mercedes’ demographic, there is little else more enticing than the notion of Draper’s approval.

But what do you do when you’re a competing luxury car manufacturer?  How do you beat Don Draper?  Lincoln viz-a-viz Team Detroit had an answer– you bring in Roger Sterling.  And you don’t just have actor John Slattery talk about it.  You get Roger behind the wheel and he’s going to take you for a ride.  How does that feel?  It feels like Roger’s taken a liking to you, and takes you out on one of his post-meeting “lunches” and is showing off his new car with cutting edge technology and everything.  What makes it work is that this presentation (luxury car, great clothes, cool music) is congruent with the Roger Sterling character, though updated.  But this time we’re not mere observers of Roger, Don, and the Mad Men melodrama– Roger is talking to the viewer; a thrilling invitation of sorts.

Lincoln’s radio spot continues to leverage the Mad Men theme while a modernized version of a generic Elvis riff is layered under the actor’s voice.  As a huge Mad Men fan, I can’t help but get excited.  But regardless, I find this a great response to a competitor’s campaign, though it could totally stand alone.  It’s amazing when a fictional program commands such influence, and it’s inspiring to see two brands work with it without losing the thing that matters most here: class.

 

— Carrie Knific

Book Review – ‘The Paris Wife’ by Paula McLain

I just finished Paula McLain’s historical novel, The Paris Wife.  It’s a fascinating model of fiction– it depicts the rise and fall of the romance between Ernest Hemingway and Hadley Richardson, Hem’s first wife, through Richardson’s perspective.  While the narrative is completely fictional, the stories, events, and characters are known to be accurate.

I found the novel to be a bit slow at first, but once the couple crosses the Atlantic, I became more intrigued, perhaps mostly due to my love for French culture and the early 20th century.  I also found it interesting that the plot presents its formulaic conflict around page 250 out of 300.  But we’re not really in it for suspense, are we?  Any reader starting the book knows how it will end– “first wife” says it all– but we read on to become observers of the hidden discourse of an incredible time in literary history.  F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, Gertrude Stein, to name a few, are all accounted for.  Anyone who enjoyed AP Lit will have fun with this one.

Hadley’s narrative lacks the luscious flash we seek from any leading lady, except for the poignant last chapters.  But this only goes to show McLain’s talent as well as her dedication to accuracy.  I respect McLain for this faith, her research, and this clever idea.  I’m sure a wave of before-they-were-famous historical fiction dopplegangers will hit the shelves before we know it.

— Carrie Knific

LivingSocial: How Not To Do A Product Placement

I know this is old news, but I was waiting to see if a clip would surface– and, to my knowledge, there is none.

I’ve got nothing against Kim Kardashian, the brand or the person, and shamelessly admit to following her shows on the E! Network. But I became disappointed as I watched the second installment to Kim K’s Wedding Spectacular last Sunday.

As the wedding nears, cameras follow Bruce into Kris Jenner’s office, where he is about to discuss something with his wife.  Kris exclaims that she just realized how smart their teenage daughter Kylie is.  Kris says that when Kylie asked if they could go to Hawaii for a family vacation, she said no– it would be too expensive, but Kylie showed her this great new site called LivingSocial, where they can get deals on everything.  Twice the massage!

I don’t have anything against product placements either– as long as they make sense and complement the programming.  But does anyone actually believe that the Kardashians can’t afford a trip to Hawaii?  This “sketch” appeared amid a sea of luxury, including three Vera Wang dresses, a private jet, a fleet of Maybachs to transport the families to the ceremony, and Hermes china on the registry.

Kim is a maven of monetization (she reportedly made 18 million on her wedding!  Go girl!) and I respect and admire the Kardashian brand’s ability to find opportunity just about anywhere.  But there is a point where it feels fabricated and dishonest, because, well, this LivingSocial spin was exactly that.

I don’t think LivingSocial really believed we could be that gullible.  I think it was an effort make as many exposures as humanly possible, and with a monster event such as is, they cut a huge swath across the entire country (to be exact, 4 million strong).  Even if the results were phenomenal, I still say Shame on you!   There is no better way to insult an audience by inserting an unnaturally scripted business deal in the middle of their reality TV.

Here is my suggestion for a more natural LivingSocial placement: Kylie sees everyone else get pampered and wants some for herself, so she negotiates a luxury massage at a nearby resort by finding a flash deal.  Kris agrees and is proud of Kylie following in her dealmaking footsteps.

In this season of Keeping up with the Kardashians, viewers followed the clan on a lavish vacation in a palatial villa in Bora Bora.  The Kardashians can afford a Hawaiian vacation.  If you’re going to do it, make it realistic!   No one wants to feel duped.

— Carrie Knific

The Curated Burger

Despite the varying topics of the discussions I attended at Ad Week last week, the big new buzzword I caught was curation, in both branding and social media contexts.  Marketers and advertisers need to act as scholarly curators, finely grooming and maintaining their exhibit to reflect a high quality and cultural interest.  This is the difference between Travelzoo and Lifebooker Loot– the latter is curated to serve flash deals at the higher standards of a specific group.  This is also why argan oil was added to a plethora hair products after Moroccan Oil hit the shelves– curating in the form of a product update.

I realized that Wendy’s has done just that with the new Dave’s Hot n Juicy burger, launched this month.  The radio and TV spots by The Kaplan Thaler Group boast their “thickest, hottest, juiciest beef ever,” “new premium toppings” like crinkled pickles and red onion rings, between a “warm butter-toasted bun.”  Sounds like the Panera of cheeseburger chains and an effort to make a huge leap from floppy, dishonest, machine-made burgers people expect out of fast food.  Leveraging “real food” in their marketing mix for a while, Wendy’s pulled the same move on a smaller level with their “natural sea salt” fries introduced earlier this year.

I agree with Wendy’s idea here and am curious to see how the market responds.  It’s not about fast, convenient, and on-the-go anymore.  Consumers are looking for premium product at a value.  One could call it the Starbucks approach.  I’ll toast my McCafé to that!

— Carrie Knific

Advertising Week: Days 3 and 4

I’m super bummed that the week of events is over, but it went out in a great way.  Wednesday’s Saying Things vs Making Things panel, including ambassadors from The Daily, Google, and the Barbarian Group, presented a noble realization: product development is the new copywriting.  Gone are the days when every copywriter was actually a screenwriter, chiseling away at his masterpiece when he wasn’t honing his craft and making dollars at an ad agency.  Now, rather, it’s apps.  This panel evolved into a discussion about encouraging innovation within the workplace, from Google’s 20% Time rule to Barbarian’s Project Popcorn, to enhance creative output.  Advertisers can’t just talk at consumers anymore– they’re expecting something with more substance and interaction.  More on this later.

The Worst Day in Advertising, a hilarious open mic set to the tune of absurd experiences, was perhaps my favorite.  To protect the innocent, I won’t duplicate the stories here, but just remember to always bring wound care and an extra pair of clothes when pitching at a Brasilian mansion.

Thursday was filled with excellent lectures.  First, Microsoft Advertising’s Natasha Hritzuk presented a deeper look into a woman’s purchase process with the Consumer Journey.  Using haircare as an example, some of this wasn’t new– i.e., it begins with dissatisfaction and a desire to change– but Natasha’s team, combined with IPSOS OTX research, delved deeper to provide great new insight for a digital age.  Natasha pointed out that the purchase process is no longer linear but circular and that brands need to reinforce validation and engagement even after she’s made her decision.

I then sat in on We Raced. We Lost. We Won: a discussion on the hyper-engaged social media strategy of MINI USA.  This was fabulous, inspiring, and very entertaining.  By using social media to challenge Porsche to a race, MINI created a layered campaign story which attracted an active parlance with the brand and its blossoming community.  The team stressed that it was a conversation rather than a campaign, continually evolving– so much so in this case that it spilled out of the screens and into the road.

In Women in Marketing, a panel centered around one of my favorite topics, honesty and curation were my two biggest takeaways.  Women create a very complex market that is no longer linear (Marriage, job, wedding, etc) but rather defined by life stage (motherhood or home-ownership may come before marriage, for instance).  Marketers can’t heap women into two categories — “Cosmo bikini wax single woman” or “mom.”  Examining women through behavior-driven research rather than passive research will warrant genuine insight into a segment that grows more complex year after year.  Meanwhile, the hot word in the branding side– here and elsewhere– was curation.  The Target effect: high-low mix.  Shopping for a deal is savvy and is not a marker of affordability.  By curating or grooming a brand to that higher standard, merchants are more willing to partner a flash deal with Daily Candy over Groupon, and habitual products sell better when an updated version with that buzz ingredient is added to the product line (2008: acai berry).

My AW8 experience ended with a treat: a historical perspective on the business.  McKann’s Matt Donovan dipped into the archives (how is that for curating?) to explore the nature of the industry at its origins.  I loved it.  In a time and business climate where it seems like everyone has to be an entrepreneur at all times, foraging forward for the best new thing, I think it is so important to look back at what we’ve come from.  Among the many directives we could glean from the olden days, one that stood out to me was to seek business problems.  We advertisers are creative thinkers and have the potential to make positive changes to brands as well as people’s lives, not just spew messages at them.  Did you know that ad man Claude Hopkins invented OJ as a response to slumping orange sales?  While so many people are so focus on the future, I find that there is so much to discover from the past.

This concludes my rambling wrap-up.  AW, I’ll be back next year!

— Carrie Knific

Advertising Week: Day 2

On the second day of this fascinating festival of sorts, I crashed Advertising Age’s Best Places to Work Luncheon.  As an account lady looking for work, of course I signed up for this pageant of the industry’s coolest agencies.  But they didn’t have my name tag at check-in and informed me that this ticket cost an additional small fortune, but they let me in anyway.  Strange, but… score!

While an amazing three course meal was served, a panel of the leaders of some of the winning agencies spoke about their practices in recruiting and rewarding talent.  My favorite in this category is a tie between 1st place agency Allen & Gerritsen, whose benefits package includes pet insurance, and Mr. Young, where employees are liberated by unlimited time off.  I can only imagine the response in productivity here.  By all means, I am a hard worker who prefers a lot of structure and loves the feeling of coming home after a long day.  But perhaps among Mr. Young’s employees there is less stress and more creative thought when not bound to the desk.  Maybe for some it shifts the work perspective away from a “quota” situation (“I’m here because I have to be”).  But I am certain this policy is incredible for parents who don’t have to worry about sacrifice between work and the ballet recital, chicken pox, and so on.

The other panel I attended was Saatchi & Saatchi’s 7×7– seven people talking about interesting things for seven minutes each.  I absolutely love that this is part of Ad Week 8.  I think it is so important that we– in any industry– step outside of our work world and ponder or experience other things.  While I do my share of industry reading (I’m currently in the middle of Kirshenbaum’s memoir, Madboy), I’ve never felt bad about all the novels I read (I’m also reading The Paris Wife).  I could scour one marketing textbook after another and become an “expert,” ready to ace a pop quiz if I ran into a professor on the street.  But remember, it was Steve Martin’s autobiography that got me thinking about content.  Advertising, like art, is a reflection of the world around us.  How far can we reflect if we’re only boxed in our tiny world?

That’s why I loved Jason Feifer’s seven minutes on hyposnia, the lack of the ability to smell or taste.  The senior editor of FastCompany colorfully described his experiences with this issue, but most interesting to me, he pointed out that we never use just one sense in the experience of “tasting” or “smelling” something… that so much of the experience is built on assumptions and associations… and that basically, in the advertising world, we are obsessed with something that doesn’t really exist.  I think about perfume here. It’s inconspicuous and complex at the same time.  When we smell an orange, it’s easy.  Looks like an orange, we’ve had experiences with orange– it’s an orange.  But given a whiff of an unmarked bottle of perfume, we probably won’t pick up on the base note of “soft skin accord.”  Alas, this is where marketing comes in with its expressive sister, advertising.

— Carrie Knific

Advertising Week: Day 1

I’m so thrilled to be attending the eighth annual Advertising Week here in NYC.  As a story person, I LOVE conferences, guest speakers, and panels.  The “slice of life” and perspective they offer can be so inspiring and fortifying.

Due to the hour-long process to attain my badge (seriously!), I only attended one panel– Moms & The New Zeitgeist– which offered fascinating perspective on the mom demographic from the SVP of Marketing at Walmart, a Today Show producer, and more.  The panelists stressed the importance of engaging and keeping the dialogue rolling.  The issue is not so much creating the message, but getting the message through to moms whose time and focus are generally spread thin.  The other key takeaway is the value of the authentic message.  “Moms are not all the same!” said working mom/panelist Katherine Wintsch, founder of the Mom Complex.  Walmart’s Tony Rogers also mentioned referred multiple times to the Old Spice Guy campaigns, as well as my favorite Walmart spot (see below) as efforts that aim to infuse authenticity into the message.  This sentiment can also be applied to social media– don’t slam them with posts but take the time to interact and engage.

I’m looking forward to the Best Places to Work Luncheon and 7×7 tomorrow!  Stay tuned.

— Carrie Knfiic