Outrage over diversity in Super Bowl Ads

It is the year 2014. Slavery was abolished centuries ago and the pain and repercussions forgotten. We have a black President and the color of his skin is barely an afterthought. Foreigners who once fled their country for a chance at a better life in America are welcomed with open arms. Reflections of our culture as a “melting pot” is fairly represented in all facets of media. America doesn’t mean white. America stands for convergence, opportunity and hope.

Oh crap I just woke up. Unfortunately this idealistic dream of what America should be is a dream barely visible in the distant future. The outrage over diversity in last Sunday’s Super Bowl Ads, namely Coca Cola and Cheerios, serve as a hard reminder that we have a long way to go before equality is a reality.

This morning I read an article by The New York Times about the mixed reviews over these two powerhouse brands. Cheerios brought back the blended family of the white mother, black father, and mixed daughter. In this sequel titled “Gracie”, the father explains to his daughter that they are about to have another baby and her humorous reaction. General Mills received a lot of negative backlash last year when they first introduced this family to the screen. In every open forum available, people rattled off angry and racists comments about the commercial. It got so intense that General Mills disabled the comments function on YouTube. General Mills quickly came out with a statement and proudly announced that not only are they going to keep using that family, but they’re going to put them in the Super Bowl,’ ”

Created by Wieden & Kennedy (swoon I just love their work) The Coca Cola spot titled “It’s Beautiful” was a video collage of America. The America that is 13% black, 17% percent Hispanic or Latino, 5% Asian and 2.5% mixed race. In the spot, you hear a woman singing “America the Beautiful” in seven languages as scenes of happiness in a variety of cultures glide across the screen. To me, it was an amazing ad. An ad that evoked emotion which is rare to do. To me, it FINALLY showed the real America. To others, it was an abomination.

Todd Starnes, a Fox News commentator, ignorantly stated on his Twitter “Coca-Cola is the official soft drink of illegals crossing the border” and “Couldn’t make out that song they were singing. I only speak English.”

Glenn Beck, on his radio show commented “Hey, have a Coke and we’ll divide you.”

Allen West, a former Tea Party congressman, posted on his blog “If we cannot be proud enough as a country to sing ‘America the Beautiful’ in English in a commercial during the Super Bowl, by a company as American as they come — doggone we are on the road to perdition. This was a truly disturbing commercial for me, what say you?”

Seriously? People are outraged because the song is in different languages? America doesn’t mean white. America was built and sustained on the backs of immigrants and natives. When will it stop being a shock to see different cultures represented? I have an idea – once the media and advertisers stop being afraid to break the mold. Sure, I can point to hundreds dozens of commercials and TV shows and magazines where ethnicity is represented. However I can point to even more where it is not.

I’ve talked about this before on my blog but I am a huge advocate for diversity training in marketing and advertising. The more we as advertisers push the envelope on diversity, the less commercials like the Cheerios ad and Coca Cola ad will shock people. We need to feature more African-Americans as leading roles in commercials and movies. There should be more representations of Asians Americans as newscasters and in print ads, we should embrace different languages in radio ads and in television shows. The less we are scared about rattling the feathers, the more advanced as a culture we become.

BTW thank you Vanity Fair for finally listening.

Advertising should be the last step

Far too often in this business, we come across companies that believe, whole-heartedly, that advertising is the savior of fundamental operational issues. Forget an undefined target audience, a flawed product, a lack of demand or a sales force that isn’t ready, let’s just get the ads out and all of our problems will fall into place. Um no. Advertising should be the last step in the process. Below are a few exercises to go through before you even start to think about advertising.

Analyze your product’s value in the market. Is there a need for your product in the market you are trying to penetrate? What is the competition like? What is the 5 year outlook on products like yours? Do people understand your product? Taking some time to really dig deep into the market will help you define your place in it. Everyone knows what a SWOT analysis is right? Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Going through this simple exercise may reveal some key issues that need to be addressed or key strengths that need to be highlighted before you hit the market.

Set your goals. Saying that you want to be a household name is not a goal. Set attainable goals on a quarterly and yearly basis. Quantify your goals such as: I want to see a 20% increase in sales by December; I want to increase awareness by 40% in the next year; I want to increase engagement on social media by 35% in the next two years. Having quantifiable goals helps you, your team and your contractors stay on track and know what they are working towards. It also allows for check-ins along to way to see if you are trending to meet these goals.

Define your target audience. There are a very limited amount of brands that are for everyone. And those that are, such as Coca Cola, have a long standing history and an astronomical amount of marketing dollars to reach everyone. Wait, now that I think about it, Coca Cola isn’t even for everyone! They aren’t for babies. See, most brands are for someone or a few groups of someone’s, not everyone. Defining your target audience and structuring all sub-sequent marketing and sales strategies for that target audience will define your place in the market. Once your audience is defined, research, research, research. Find out where they consume media, how to they like to be spoken to, what types of things to they respond to and anything that can help shape your marketing decisions.

Obviously there are many more steps to take such and testing your product in the market, educating your sales force and setting a marketing budget, but you get what I mean. Once all of these are smoothed out, you’ll be ready to advertise. Hooray!

The customer is always right – except for when they aren’t

We hear it all the time in customer service “the customer is always right.” It’s a model build on service – we serve the customer’s needs because the customer is what is keeping our business afloat. But what if the customer is a client? Like say in advertising. Is the customer (client) still always right?

As an advertising executive, we are faced with the dilemma of pleasing the client while also pleasing the customer, whom in this case is the target audience.  Our job is to analyze the market, assess the needs and trends of the target audience, and develop a campaign strategy that will succeed. Or wait, is that the client’s job? The line between marketing strategy (the client’s job) and creative strategy (the advertiser’s job) is so blurred that it’s hard to decipher who owns what. Nonetheless, our job is to put out the best work for the client and for the target audience. Not only is the client’s arse on the line, the agency is too. Bad work reflects poorly on both parties involved. And if you want to grow as an agency, you need to learn when to comply with the client’s requests and when to push back.

Here’s a new word that all advertisers should learn to say more often, No. Some of us are lucky to have marketing executives with actual experience in marketing and advertising. Some of us aren’t so lucky and get outrageous requests by clients who claim to “know best.”

Below are a few examples of when to say NO, in a polite way of course:

• Can we add one more sentence to the billboard?

• We’re marketing to teens ages 14-18. Can we place all of our money in newspaper ads?

• My gut feeling tells me (insert media) is the way to go.

• Can you change this ad by (insert any design suggestion that would compromise the ad)?

• Can we make our logo three times as big on this ad?

• Can we add a QR code on our website?

Get it?

 

We are hiring

Do you desire to be a quarterback but your football skills are sub-par? Well you’re in luck! Account managers in the advertising world are like the quarterbacks of the agency! We direct departments, manage projects, maintain timelines, develop strategy, communicate with the client on a daily basis, and get praised when things go right or blamed when things go wrong! I kid, I kid. But really, being on the account team can be stressful but highly rewarding. If you love advertising and marketing, love working in a team environment, love developing strategy and are great with people, then this may be the job for you.

We are hiring for two Account Assistants and an Account manager. Simply send your resume and cover letter to hr@rs-e.com. And don’t forget to look us up at www.rs-e.com  . Good luck!

 

Would you sell yourself in the name of advertising?

Social media, experiential marketing, and the likes have grown exponentially in recent years as brands are vying for consumer attention. Likewise, hopefuls looking to make a name for themselves in the industry are trying everything to stay innovative and ahead of the game. But how far would you go to make a name for yourself?

Jason Sadler is taking it a step above the rest by actually selling the rights to his last name to the highest bidder. By changing his last name to the company with enough disposable cash, he believes the company is receiving a “unique marketing” opportunity that can really “make a splash.” So what does this bidder win? A real live billboard for a brand. His name will be legally changed on his I.D., social media sites, personal blog and website for an entire year. And for an additional cost, Jason will participate in marketing and additional promotions for the brand.

Bidding ends December 12th at 11:59pm. He is currently at $34,500 and his name is Jason JLABAUDIO…for now. Seriously $34,500? It amazes me how easy it is in the U.S. to become rich and famous.

Start-ups making millions that you’ve probably never heard of

We are in the era of innovation. Like the .com boom of the late 90’s, start-ups are rising up more than ever, aiming for a slice of the pie and a chance to make millions of dollars in eCommerce, mobile, and social networking. Every so often (I won’t commit to a time frame), I will profile three new companies on the rise that you should watch. Hey, maybe it will give you an idea to join the start-up posse with your own company.

Zulily – So maybe I’ve never heard of this company because I’m not a mom but holy crapoly when I read that it raised $85 million in funding, I thought it was worth a look. Zulily is a flash sale shopping site with a whopping 10 million members valued at $1 billion. The site started in 2009 and now features 35 new sales events daily that offers up to 70% off retail price. Products range from clothing to books to home goods. Think HauteLook or Rue LaLa for moms. Not only are they nationwide, the company has recently expanded into European markets. Additionally, they have a mobile app that helps moms on the go. Way to go Zulily!

Hipmunk – Travel search site that aims to take the pain and frustration out of travel planning. Hipmunk not only ranks flights by price, it shows you a chart ranked by agony: i.e. how long the layovers are. I’ve actually used this site to purchase tickets to London and I can’t recommend it enough. Their simple to navigate page actually makes travel planning fun and removes the overwhelming feeling you’d get with other sites. Hipmunk has raised over 20 million dollars in funding and recently announced a revamp to their hotels search function which shows results on a map so people can view the neighborhood and read recommendations from local travel writers based on the atmosphere you are looking to be in.

Munchery – I don’t know how many times I’ve had the intentions of eating healthy only to concede to fatty fast food because I had no idea where to go to get a healthy meal (I can’t eat Subway 7 days a week). Munchery, a Bay Area start up, lets customers order healthy home-delivered meals from local chefs. The company recently raised $4 million in VC funding to expand their services to the entire Bay Area, Los Angeles in 2013, and New York and Seattle soon to follow. Customers can either log on to Munchery from the web or download the app for iPhone and soon, Android. Did I mention same day delivery and affordable prices? I’ll be testing this one this weekend.

We are hiring!

Wow I’ve really fallen off blogging lately. But its nice to be back; I’ve forgotten how fun and relaxing this can be. Welp to kick off my return, I’ve got good news to those looking to find work.

My agency, Runyon Saltzman & Einhorn is hiring four new positions!

Art Director – 3 – 5+ yrs experience in visual design. Able to work on multiple, highly-engaging campaigns, as well as participate in the full scope of the project, from strategy to execution. and some other stuff…

Copywriter – 3-5 yrs experience level. You are comfortable working in a wide range of media – broadcast television, radio, outdoor, print, interactive – whatever the project calls for. yadda yadda

Media Relations Strategist – 3-4 yrs experience level. This person will serve several different clients through campaign planning, media outreach, writing and community engagement. blah blah blah

Admin Assistant – 2+ years working in an office environment. Knows how to juggle tasks and accept responsibility at all levels, i.e., answering phones and stocking supplies, scheduling client appointments and editing and formatting complex proposals. latttiii daaahh. Send resume to sacadagency@yahoo.com

For more info on the jobs, visit http://www.rs-e.com

send resumes to hr@rs-e.com

HAPPY JOB HUNTING!

Talk about a motivation to get in shape!

There are two things that most women hate: losing money and gaining weight. Well now, there is a new app that combines your two fears into one mind f*ck. The geniuses behind Gym Pact have developed an app that motivates you to go to the gym by charging you when you flake! How smart is that?

You can set your weekly pledge to workout and if you stay consistent and meet your goals, you are giving incentives, rewards, and even cash. If you skip on your pledge, you have to pay a price – anywhere from $5-$50.

Check out the website! I’d totally do it if I wasn’t such a flake 0_0

 

The Sleepless City

Anyone who truly knows me knows that I am obsessed with the gritty and beautiful city that is New York i.e. Sex and The City, How to Make it in America, Gossip Girl, Ugly Betty.  I don’t just watch the shows, I watch the background..the building, the cars, the people. Yes I know TV is not reality but just let me think that I can work as a freelance writer and afford to live in an amazing studio the lower east side.

Well the The Wall Street Journal has feed my NY hunger by posting pics taken by local photographers that gives the real feel of the constant beating heart that fills NY City at night

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A Look at the Year 2011, Lego Style

We can all agree that this year has been one of the most dramatic, surprising, shocking, and craziest year in a long time. From Occupy Wall Street movement, to the government protests in the east, to the capture and killing of public enemy number one, this year is one that will go down in the history books. The Guardian in the UK has come up with a really cool way to reflect the year 2011: by re-creating the year’s most memorable moments in Legos! How cool is this:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

If you want to add your Lego take on a news event this year, email community.coordinators@guardian.co.uk