Half-baked Ideas and AMC’s “The Pitch”One thing I’ve discovered in this business is that when you have the right idea, it’s immediately clear. When you bounce ideas around for hours, it’s because they’re half-baked. The right idea comes to you crispy and golden brown. AMC’s new series The Pitch could use a few more minutes in the oven. Imagine if you took Mad Men, trimmed it down to just the creative team and pitch meetings. Interesting, yes? Those can be the most entertaining parts of the show. Now set it in the modern day. It loses its 60s’ flair, but OK, still worth a look. And last week, after “Mystery Date,” the April 9th episode of Mad Men, television was given a sneak preview of its next advertising show. “Next on AMC, the AMC original series, AMC’s ‘The Pitch’”1 Each week, the show will feature two agencies vying for a new piece of business. The premier episode featured Los Angeles’ WDCW and McKinney, from North Carolina. The client was my favorite and yours, Subway. The specific target was to market Subway breakfast sandwiches to 18-24 year olds. The teams came in, were briefed by the overweight marketing department at Subway corporate2, and then sent home for a week to work on their concepts. A week later they come back, pitch and one is chosen. And the problems started right in the briefing meeting. Years ago, WDCW did some work for Quizno’s. This makes sense; if you liked their other work in this field, why not give them a try. But Subway didn’t like the Quizno’s work. I instantly get a red flag. Was WDCW being set up to lose? We’ll see. When the agencies get home and meet their creative teams is where I noticed The Pitch to be little weak. Think back to the Mad Men equation earlier. But now take away a writer’s room. A large conference table filled with people coming up with the perfect metaphor for the characters’ personal lives. That second layer is taken away, and with it, any depth. This doesn’t seem like a show, it seems like my life. Watching teams throw ideas to their creative directors was just as uncomfortable as it is in person. When you give an idea for a tagline or ad concept, and all your CD does is squint, rub their face, and yawn, it doesn’t feel good. You can sit for hours and be so proud, and instantly get shot down. Add to that the stress of a predetermined timeline. As Jonathan Crude, Chief Creative Officer at McKinney says in the episode, “This is what’s so hard about this business. People ask me ‘Oh, creativity.’ And it is great and it is creative, but it’s pressure too, because it’s not ‘Go paint a painting.’ It’s ‘Go be creative and make sure you do this and make sure you do that and make sure you do it in the next 24 hours. See you then.’” These agencies may be the size of my high school, but having more people doesn’t mean ideas come easier. At least not good ideas. Looking in on these meetings, even I knew some of the ideas would never fly. The teams each work for the week, mocking up print ads, billboards, coupons, and commercials. And then it’s time to present. This was the segment that could use more focus. These meetings can easily go on for an hour, but both team’s pitches were finished within eight TV minutes. And those minutes that were shown were rambling, with sentences started and stopped, and a lot of blank stares. Some of this is the magic of TV editing, but AMC didn’t do the presenters any favors. In the end, Subway decides to give the work to McKinney, though they didn’t mention which of their two presented concepts was chosen. (I haven’t either in print or on TV, so maybe it took on a new bent before it hit the public.) One note in Subway’s direction – Hey Subway! You brought WDCW in because of what they do. Which you weren’t a big fan of. They did what they do. And you rejected them for it. THEY WERE SET UP TO LOSE. WDCW was known for their big concepts. Their zAMbies (get it? Zombies, but with an AM?) campaign was certainly a big concept. And it was good. The Pitch is not a bad show. But who is this directed toward? Mad Men fans are going to find it too boring and perhaps won’t understand the realities of the industry. Those in the advertising industry may be more unfriendly – doctors don’t want to go home and watch Grey’s Anatomy, tattoo artists don’t care about LA Ink. And without steady characters to care about, what is there to bring me back? The show returns Monday, April 30 at 9PM. Let’s hope AMC used these three weeks between episodes let the show finish baking. 1 Their station identification is really brutal. Blake Griffin. Not Your Average Spokesman.In my last post, I talked about jingles. Today, I want to talk about a different advertising gimmick – celebrity endorsements. And I don’t want to complain! I want to give a thumbs up! So, thumbs up Kia! I’ve never owned or even driven one of your cars, but I really like your new commercials. Some background. Basketball is my favorite sport. I like football, but it’s never been as enjoyable to me as basketball. Back in my days in the Chelsea Youth Basketball League, I scored a crisp four points in two years. Pretty, pretty good. ANYWAY, sponsorships are nothing new in sports. Athletes have long appeared in commercials for shoes, video games, and bland, assembly line sandwiches. (There goes my Subway sponsorship.) Last year, after NBA forward Blake Griffin won the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest by jumping over a car – a Kia Optima, they signed him to a sponsorship deal. Their first commercial was a dramatic representation of the dunk. “Not your average dunk. Not your average midsize sedan.” This year, they tweak that line to “Not your average spokesman. Not your average midsize sedan.” The commercials also feature less melodrama and more humor. There are four that I’ve seen so far, but there are two I really like. I like that the jokes are visual – the dialogue is all business, but when Blake leans forward to stretch out his leg, I laugh every time. The ball balancing on his finger, even after is stopped spinning, is less subtle, but Blake’s stoicism sells it. And of course, there’s the randomness of Blake being at your campsite or salon. Someone who is just listening to a game while on their computer (or is blind) isn’t going to appreciate these as much as I do. Television is a visual and aural medium, it’s nice that they use them together. When Blake isn’t embarrassing ex-Celtics, he’s probably not driving a KIA, but I appreciate these ads none the less. I love jingles. I hate jingles.One problem I have with a lot of modern advertising is when you see an ad, but can’t remember what company it was for. Many car ads work this way. They all talk about how they stand out from the competition, but the ads don’t say anything unique. “Wow. That was a cool car. What was it?” You’re not going to buy that car. At least not because of the commercial. One of the goals of advertising is to increase your awareness in the marketplace, but you’ve failed if the audience doesn’t remember the company. Ask the next person you see how much you can get a 12-inch Subway sandwich for. Ask a New Englander, “Who do you call when your windshield’s busted?” I bet they know. For the windshield, they may even be able to tell you the phone number. When someone gets a cracked windshield or wants a mediocre sandwich, something in their head clicks. Because they had jingles! Those short little songs, and the companies they represent, have lodged themselves in your brain and refused to be shaken out. But like standard songs, that stickiness can be annoying. I’m not sure what is worse, the music of Steve Miller or those ads that They Might Be Giants wrote for Dunkin Donuts (“Karate!”, “Fritalian”, etc.) I’m sure they didn’t hurt business, but those songs drove me crazy, and I muted the TV every time they came on. Music is subjective and I’m not here to judge (other than that “Rock’n Me” is a terrible, terrible song). I’m just saying that music is a great way to lodge your name in someone’s head. Some are fun. Some are annoying. But I bet you remember who it’s for. What are some of your (least) favorites? Asking “Why?”Howdy! I’m Bells. Who Is Bells? It was a humid day in August, not long after my graduation from Clark University, when I came to Exsel as an intern. Four years later, I’m a permanent part of Exsel’s Accounts team. In my time here, I’ve learned from some great people, worked with clients ranging from hose manufacturers to massage therapists, and changed the way I think about marketing. To go back in time a little, I was 17 and looking at colleges. I had no idea what to focus on. Everyone said, “Go for communications. You can do anything with that.” I took their advice, completing a double-major in Communications and Theater. After that, I got a Masters in Professional Communications. Though I only took a few marketing/advertising classes, this has all helped me at my current job. Art classes help me realize the significance of icons and symbols. Philosophy classes made my arguments stronger. Even in theater, playwriting helps me with copy and acting made me a better presenter. Every day, even in my free time, I become a better advertiser. My biggest hobby is reading comic books. There may not seem to be a big connection between comics and advertising, but think about it. One of them involves pictures and (sometimes) words coming together to tell a story or send a message. The other often features superheroes. What Is “Smart Marketing”? When it came time for Exsel to take on a new identity, our rallying cry was “Smart Marketing.” To me, smart marketing is asking “Why?” It’s reviewing our practices and asking at each step, “Why are we doing it this way?” If the answer is that we’ve always done it that way, it’s not good enough. Even as we built this site, we didn’t just look at our competitors and copy them. We dissected what we wanted it to do and how best to do it. These days, when we are approaching a potential client, we don’t give them the same pitch we would give someone else. We ask, “Why should they choose us over another agency? What can we specifically do to help them?” When someone comes up with a grand idea, we don’t shoot it down. We ask, “Why couldn’t we do that?” Anyway I’ve always been the youngest one here in the office. I’m up on pop-culture or always (try to) know the new technology. So that’s what you can expect from me – the new idea, the younger viewpoint. Although, next time, you can expect my opinion on a classic advertising medium. If you’re interested in more of my writing or hearing some of my ideas on comics, check out my website at www.bellskitchen.net. See ya, |
We are always looking to team up on exciting new projects. If you have one in mind and need some help getting it off the ground, feel free to shoot us a message or give us a ring.