A 2010 Derby Story
Each year at this time, New West account manager Gary Elder sits down at his keyboard and writes a short story that incorporates the name of each horse in the upcoming Kentucky Derby. We always look forward to see what he comes up with and thought you might enjoy reading this year’s effort. (Is there a pattern that predicts the winner? You decide!)
Happy Derby!
A Derby Story by Gary Elder
“Anybody seen Paddy? I need to talk to him,” said Dean “Homeboy” Kris.
“Not me,” said Victor Noble, the older, refined gentleman who had worked at the American Lion for years, watching performers come and go and becoming friends with the regulars. He carried himself with a certain dignity, earning the nickname “Stately Victor.” He was class all the way. If Victor gave you his word, you could take it to the bank. There was nothing more certain than Noble’s promise.
“Same here,” said Lucky. “Got no idea where that boy is. What’s goin’ on?”
“Oh, it’s just a little recording deal that may be in the works,” said Dean. He didn’t really want to get into details, especially since he didn’t know Lucky that well. In fact, Lucky was pretty much a mystery to everybody. Nobody seemed to know his last name or where he was from. If you asked, he’d just say, “Lucky, from Jackson Bend. That’s enough.” He’d shown up 12 years ago, asking if he could rent the apartment upstairs in exchange for maintenance and other odd jobs at the club. He’d been there ever since. The irony of his name wasn’t lost on anybody.
Just then, the rev of an engine and screeching tires snapped their heads around. Paddy O’Prado had arrived. “For crying out loud,” said Victor, “look at that car! Can’t he do anything discreetly? Mine would fit in the trunk of that thing.” It was something to see. Kind of a cross between a Mustang and an Aston-Martin and almost the size of one of those Hummer limos – and bright green.
For certain, there was nothing discreet about Paddy O’Prado, or “POP” for short; the brash Irishman fromDublin who was full of backtalk and a “devil may care” attitude. Victor said he acted like he was “from the line of David, God’s gift to the world.”
Paddy was going to be a rock star. He was sure of it. He spent a few years with a couple of small Dublin bands – Mission Impazible, Sidney’s Candy – before flying over on the super saver to find fame and fortune in America. “Heck,” he’d say, smiling from ear-to-ear, “if that two-bit Bono can do it, I can, too.” He certainly had the personality – if not the talent – to be a rock star.
“What are you lookin’ at, Lucky?” Paddy said as he practically launched himself into the room.
Lucky ignored him.
“Hey, Victor, grab me something cold out of the ice box, will ya?” He knew Victor was the only one there old enough to still call a refrigerator an ice box. He loved asking Victor to get him something to drink, then he’d laugh and say, “How old are you, anyway, Victor? I forget.”
“Not so old I can’t whip your….” Victor would then just turn away, shaking his head. He never finished the sentence. He had too much class.
Crash! Dean’s kitten jumped up from behind the bar and knocked over a glass. That startled everybody and gave Dean a chance to change the subject to something more serious.
“Paddy, we got an offer from a guy in LA who’s with a pretty big label. As your manager, I’m telling you, this could be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.”
“Allright!” said Paddy. “What do I have to do?”
“Just make music for me,” said Dean. “Maybe then I can get enough money to pay off the conveyance tax on this place.”
“Don’t worry, Homeboy,” said Paddy. “How can we fail? I’m an awesome act.”
Want to read more Derby stories? Check out the full archive.
New Westers to the Rescue
The usual creative hum of the office was broken this week when cries of concern ricocheted throughout the halls. “Baby ducks have fallen through the storm grate in the parking lot,” says the normally calm and cool Bobbi Davis, Senior Account Manager.
“The mother duck is frantically circling the grate and the lone remaining baby is in danger of falling through as well,” cried Marketing Assistant Donna Wade.
In a flash, Mary Walter-Yandell, Graphic Designer by trade, but bird fancier by choice, leapt into action. “Who has a net?” she cracked (in a voice that is barely audible on most occasions). Nancy Roth, the agency bookkeeper/receptionist wasted no time in calling building maintenance…but it was lunch time and the usually trusty handyman was a good half hour away.
Justin Toon reaches into the drain to rescue the ducklings
Meanwhile, Mary had called into service the wiry but sturdy Art Director Justin Toon to go outside and help move the iron grate and capture the fallen ducklings before they were swept away by a mounting rain.
In short order the ducklings were rescued and they were reunited with momma. She and her babies waddled into the nearby creek and swam away. Ruffled feathers were smoothed.
The quick thinking and seamless teamwork of these office mates helped one lucky family of ducks avert certain disaster.
The ducklings: safe and sound after being rescued
Momma and babies head to the creek after the rescue
In a tough economy, this ‘dinosaur’ still has teeth
Ever since I’ve been working in advertising, people have been declaring that radio is practically extinct.
Some other form of media is always more popular. It used to be TV that hogged the limelight. Now it’s social media. Meanwhile, radio continues to quietly chug along in the background just doing its job.
Three years ago, as the economy began to sour, I noticed a strange phenomenon. I was producing more radio spots than ever before. When the economy contracted even further, the radio assignments on my desk only piled up even higher.
The reason why was obvious. When their marketing budgets got cut back, some of our clients took a good hard look at the numbers. They couldn’t afford to saturate the airwaves on TV anymore. But they could afford to do it on radio.
Even though radio advertising doesn’t get a lot of press, as an advertising medium it really has a lot of advantages. Let’s review.
It’s affordable. Compared to TV and print, radio is usually a better value. A good radio media schedule will often cost less and reach more people.
Your audience is already segmented for you. The different programming formats at radio stations appeal to vastly different audiences. This makes it easier to cherry pick the people you want to receive your advertising message. You simply buy the stations that reach your target’s demographics and psychographics.
Production costs are low. Because both TV and print are visual media, you have to show the reader/viewer what you want them to picture. Because of this, setting up a print or TV shoot can be expensive. In a radio spot, however, you can paint a picture in the listener’s mind. You don’t have to show them anything. Through the magic of sound effects and music you can make it sound like someone is hopping all around the world on a pogo stick. The truth is it’s just an actor in a recording studio and some CDs with sound effects on them.
Radio gets results. Here’s one example. Recently, I did a series of radio spots for Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement. The spots were designed to increase awareness among motorists of the danger of crowding commercial vehicles on Kentucky’s highways. In other words, “Don’t get too close to the truckers.” After the campaign ran, surveys revealed that the number of people who said they had heard a message about driving more safely around trucks jumped from 15% to 45%. The surveys also revealed that 5% had changed their driving behavior because of the commercials.
The next time you need to design an affordable advertising campaign, you should really consider radio. Even in a down economy, this “dinosaur” really can help your company make a giant roar.
Ohio marketer praises ‘Kentucky Unbridled Spirit’ brand
It’s one thing to toot your own horn. It’s another to get a ringing endorsement from a peer.
We checked our Google alerts recently and discovered that Jean Gianfagna, founder and president of a marketing consulting firm in Cleveland, had nice things to say about the Unbridled Spirit brand New West created for the state of Kentucky in 2004.
More on that in a minute. First, though, Ms. Gianfagna wanted to talk about her home state’s new “Beautiful Ohio” plate. The plate, Ms. Gianfagna said, “makes a classic branding and marketing mistake: Obscuring the name of the product through ‘creative’ graphic design. In fact, it’s hard to imagine what else the designers could have done to bury the brand.” She complained about typeface that’s too hard to read, “clumsy” visual elements, an overly busy design, and positioning of the word “Ohio” in such a way that plate frame holders will cover up at least part of it.
Many other states have made similar mistakes, Gianfagna said. Kentucky, on the other hand, “designed a clean, attractive license plate whose main visual element is its ‘Kentucky Unbridled Spirit’ branding, the official logo of the brand strategy that applies to all of Kentucky’s tourism marketing and promotion – including its license plates.” This strategy has paid off, she said, noting that public perceptions of Kentucky have improved as a result.
“Imagine the impact,” Gianfagna concluded, “if Ohio officials had followed Kentucky’s lead and recognized the state’s license plate as a branding opportunity. Suppose they created a visually striking graphic design that showcased the brand in a readable, engaging, and memorable way and linked to the state’s tourism marketing campaign. Ohio would be making millions of powerful, positive impressions on people everywhere, every day. And that would be a smart branding strategy.”
Thanks, Jean. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
For the full text of Ms. Gianfagna’s remarks, see http://www.gianfagnamarketing.com/blog/2010/03/01/a-branding-blunder-averted-ohio-almost-makes-a-classic-marketing-mistake/
The court of justice vs. the court of public opinion
Pro golfer Tiger Woods, perhaps the world’s most famous athlete, found himself in a public relations quandary over the Thanksgiving holiday, when he crashed his car into a fire hydrant and then a tree near his mansion just outside Orlando, Florida, at 2:30 in the morning. His wife, Elin Nordegren, told police she heard the crash and went outside, then rescued him by breaking out both rear windows with – what else? – a golf club.
Woods quickly issued a statement saying that he was embarrassed, that the “false, unfounded and malicious rumors” surrounding the incident are irresponsible, and that everyone should respect his privacy. But he repeatedly canceled interviews with the police, and he has refused to speak with the media.
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution allows defendants to decline to speak with authorities in order to avoid self-incrimination. Any good defense attorney will advise against a police interview it provides opportunities to quibble over holes, misstatements and inconsistencies in one’s story. So Woods was on solid legal ground as police continued their investigation.
But the court of public opinion differs from the court of justice. Whether you’re a famous golfer or a business owner facing hostile scrutiny, speculation flourishes when facts are in short supply. A wise public relations counselor knows that the subject of a news event has only a limited time in which to exert some control over the discussion. After that, the vacuum is filled with conjecture and innuendo – particularly in a media culture obsessed with celebrity and scandal. The National Enquirer and another publication had previously reported that Woods had been having an affair with a New York model and nightclub hostess.
And a few days after the crash, gossip site TMZ.com said Woods told a “non-law enforcement type” that the official story about the crash was wrong. According to “a source,” TMZ claimed, Woods’ wife had confronted Woods about reports that he was seeing another woman, scratched his face, and chased the car as he fled, smashing the windows.
”We’re also told,” TMZ said in breathless tabloid style, “Woods had said during the conversation Friday he had been taking prescription pain medication for an injury, which could explain why he seemed somewhat out of it at the scene.”
How much of that (possible domestic violence, possible impaired driving) is actually true is almost irrelevant in PR terms. The damage has been done. It might not be enough to hurt him in the long run, but it’s certainly provoking snickers for now.
When bad news erupts, New West advises clients to speak up immediately, state the obvious, indisputable facts, and say as much as you can in order to reduce the feeding frenzy. Use your own social media tools to share your story. If the situation is complicated or involves third parties, then set a time and place when the media can expect an update. That way the media aren’t forced to fall all over themselves to investigate, to land an “exclusive,” interviewing neighbors, friends, relatives, old girlfriends, high-school classmates, auto-shop repairmen, hairdressers, landscapers and the man on the street to uncover more dirt – whether relevant to the story or not.
Woods certainly has the right as a private individual to refuse to talk to the media, but as a major public figure is he doing the right thing for his image and reputation?
In the absence of a definitive explanation from Woods, questions will continue to swirl and Tiger Woods can expect to spend more time in the rough.
Ewe butter be careful
I’m here today to warn you of the dangers of your computer’s spell checker. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good tool when used to complement (not compliment – I’ll get to that in a minute) a thorough proofreading. It becomes dangerous, however, when people rely on it solely to check the accuracy of a document as evidenced by this poem by an anonymous author:
Human Brain Not Yet Obsolete
I have a spelling checker.
It came with my PC.
It plainly marks for my revue
Mistakes I cannot sea.
I’ve run this poem threw it,
I’m sure you’re pleased too no.
Its letter perfect in its weigh,
My checker tolled me sew.
Now, about complement and compliment, easily two of the most confused words in the English language. Complement means “something that completes or brings to perfection” (“That tie really complements your outfit.”). Compliment means “an expression of courtesy or praise” (“That’s a really nice tie.”).
One way to help you remember: when using complement with an “e”, make sure that it is describing something that is enhancing something else. And then people will compliment you on your writing skill.
Have a grate day!
A 2009 Derby Story
Each year at this time, New West account manager Gary Elder sits down at his keyboard and writes a short story that incorporates the name of each horse in the upcoming Kentucky Derby. We always look forward to see what he comes up with and thought you might enjoy reading this year’s effort. (Is there a pattern that predicts the winner? You decide!)
Happy Derby!
A Derby Story by Gary Elder
Bernie Clement Freisan, Papa Clem to family and friends, loved to tell war stories. A World War II veteran, he loved to brag about how he helped rescue thousands of Allied troops in France during the famous Battle of Dunkirk in 1940. As a “flying private” he was part of a squadron that called itself “Atomic Rain.” The rest of the crew nicknamed him “West Side Bernie ” because of his California roots.
“We came down on the enemy hard. They’d never see us coming. When my commander gave the order, “Okay Friesan, fire!”, I was ready. There wasn’t any way you could hold me back. They knew when we hit’em, there was nowhere to hide.”
“There were some great guys in that unit. I remember one, Danny Bird. He had a thing for chocolate candy and a short fuse. He was always hot under the collar. That’s why we called him Mr. Hot Stuff. He was always ready to fight at the drop of a hat. Well, we’d been training with some British troops in London and one summer Bird got into it with one of their guys over something and the guy threatened Bird, yelling at him,’I'm gonna take you out with my musket.’ Man, that just set Danny off. He went at the guy and got decked. After we got back to our general quarters, all he kept saying was ‘I want revenge , I want revenge.’ I tried to talk some sense into him. I said, ‘You don’t want to mine that, Bird. You’ll pay a regal ransom.’ Of course, he completely ignored my advice.”
“So anyway a couple days later we’re enjoying a little R & R at some club called the Pioneerof the Nile - I always remembered the name because it was so odd – and who do we run into but this same guy. Bird goes over to him, they start exchanging words and the next thing you know they’re throwing punches. Then a few other guys decide they want to join in the dance and just like that we got a full-scale brawl.”
“That was just Danny. Heck, I saw him a few years back, during the first Gulf War, and he said, ‘Come on, West Side, let’s go have us some fun at that desert party they’re throwin’ over there.’ I just laughed, told him he was as nuts as ever and then we had a couple of beers. Ol’ Bird sure was one of a kind.”
Want to read more Derby stories? Check out the full archive.
Trade show secret ingredient: Chocolate chips
Or, making dough by baking dough
L-R: New West’s Maria Ladd and Becky Simpson, and our client, Steve Fung of General Imaging.
I don’t want to overstate this. I’m not going to say that cookies got us in front of 11 million people.
A client making a quality product, along with good, old-fashioned media relations, were the main ingredients behind our latest success story.
But let’s face it. Warm, chewy chocolate chip cookies, freshly baked and strategically placed every half an hour throughout your trade-show booth (you’re thinking about cookies right now, aren’t you?), can certainly be the – ahem – icing on the cake when it comes to capturing media attention in these days of overworked, underpaid, job-hanging-by-a-thread news people.
That’s why New West likes cookies.
A couple of weeks ago a team of New Westers headed, um, west to Las Vegas to coordinate and staff our client’s booth at the Photo Marketing Association trade show. We did all the usual stuff – preparing media kits, setting up meetings with industry writers, TV shows and bloggers, and working with the client to make sure the booth got finished – but then came the coup de grace: the cookies. So we fired up the portable oven and got to baking.
Within minutes, the smell of fresh cookies, Mom in the kitchen, home and childhood and everything else you hold dear was wafting out into the concrete abyss of the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. And we saw that it was good. Reporters and analysts and buyers and sellers and, frankly, even our competitors, were suddenly finding reasons to drop by. One reporter in particular came by several times over the three-day show. “Man, those cookies are good,” he’d say each time. And each time we’d talk a little more about business.
A few days after I got home, that reporter emailed me:
Cary:
Gave ya a good ride this week. Thanks for the cookies!
And beneath his signature were the links to his tech column announcement about our client’s cameras – a column that appeared in 30 major newspapers around the United States. Total audience: 11 million people.
Again, I’m not going to say cookies did that. But I do think they greased the baking sheet. The point is, when you want your business to cook, every ingredient is essential.
Let them rant, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the criticism
Sometimes the best offense is a good defense. And sometimes the best defense is letting people bad-mouth you.
Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Like a recipe for failure?
But that’s just what Barack Obama did, and many experts are saying that’s one reason he got elected president last November. Obama allowed his critics to come to his own social network site (MyBarackObama.com) and blow off steam. Whether these critics were nudged into the Obama fold or stayed upset with the candidate is almost beside the point. By coming to one site, the candidate’s site, rather than working behind his back to stir up a movement against him, the critics were largely neutralized. In many cases the complaints were countered by Obama’s staff or, better yet, by his grassroots supporters.
The point is, the debate was contained within a defined forum, on the subject’s home turf. The door was open, grievances were aired, and the world went on turning. And in the process the target of the criticism gained credibility.
As I’ve grown older, I’ve accepted the fact that some people are going to criticize me, my family, my business, my clients, my political heroes, my favorite entertainers, my beloved sports team, or my hometown – no matter how much I wish otherwise. Disagreement and conflict are part of being a human. Google “criticism of Mother Teresa” and you’ll get 227,000 hits, for heaven’s sake.
By the same token, if you’re active and visible, people are talking about you. And you know what? Let them talk. In fact, encourage them to talk. Set up a forum or a blog about your product or service and engage them. Maybe they’ll be defanged by your – sorry, guess I’ll use that word everybody else uses these days – transparency. Your supporters might well come to your defense, or at worst, they will make up their own minds about the validity of any criticism and, if they already have a good opinion of you, they’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Most people who have spent a significant amount of time online realize that the Negative Nellies of cyberspace tend to be quite vocal – but not always reliable.
Responding is tricky. If the criticism is isolated, hysterical, or not directly related to your product or service, in most cases you should just let it go. If the same criticism pops up more than once, you should acknowledge it and, if plausible, pledge to look into it. When appropriate, offer to work one-on-one with the critic to resolve the issue. If you do respond, do so with a respectful tone, even if deep down you think the critique is out of line.
Keep in mind that the most valuable lessons in life often come from our critics. Constructive criticism might help you learn how to build a better mousetrap, or how to improve customer service. And in the process, your customers just might become even more loyal than before.
Build market share
We’ve been preaching about how this is an excellent time to pick up market share, and NOT the time to cut back on marketing efforts.
Here is another example, in the form of an excellent article in “Media Daily News” on Procter and Gamble’s aggressive advertising strategy. This is from that article:
“CEO A.G. Lafley said marketing outlays have remained at their traditional levels, and P&G is looking to take advantage of the turmoil in the ad market to build share of voice.
In a call with investors, Lafley said the marketer of Tide and Crest is “absolutely not” trimming ad dollars. In fact, what’s really going on is that “the advertising markets are softening–and for the same dollars, we’re buying more delivery.” That, in turn, has led to “improving our shares of voice” in multiple categories, he said. “
