October 30, 2005Infinity lives up to its name - endless clutter and endless crap |
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Open up this week's Ad Age (and no doubt every major trade pub) and you'll find wall to wall Infinity Broadcasting advertising - I counted 22 pages of roadblock advertising. 22 pages of "we're new" and "we're cool" and "there is life after Howard Stern" and "we're free, which is better than paid" and "a magician, washed up singer, perverted talk show host" et al means we're new, we've changed, we're better and we're going to win.
NO IT DOESN'T.
Your inferiority complex is so acute, you've had to litter an entire publication to convince yourselves (because you're not convincing us) that things are going to be ok. When the walls are crumbling and threatening to tumble down, you call in a new painter...instead of levelling the whole damn antiquated format and starting from scratch. This is just like GAP...celebrity doesn't work, call in a new one. Or in the case of Howard Stern's defection, change the lineup instead of changing yourselves.
FREE does not trump PAID, when the quality of PAID > the quality of FREE (just look towards HBO, you bunch of ninnies)
Start by reducing your 8-10 minute pods of irrelevent, untargeted and 100% pure drivel and work your way from there.
Where in this plethora of messaging was any sign that Infinity has changed for the better? The one call to a website or the invitation to join CEO, Joel Hollander on November 2nd, 12 noon EST for a webcast? GIVE ME A BREAK - appointment viewing is so yesterday...and while we're at it, if you're trying to swing for the fences with FREE FM, you've lost that one as well...it's called PODCASTING and it's way ahead of where you'll ever be.
This is just downright sad. Your 22 pages should have been about change....evolution and even revolution....not the triumphant return of David Lee Roth (???)
PS The whole bit about the censorship doesn't work either. You might think laughing at yourself is cool, but nobody else does, when you look like a bigger fool doing it.
PPS The Infinity website is a disgrace. The integration with the trade campaign is negligible. There is no clear link to the webcast invitation. The podcasting offering is a token olive branch at best.
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Comments
Joe, are you critical of Infinity for buying out the inventory of Ad Age or critical of its message ("we're free, blah, blah, blah...")? If it is the former, then what is your take of Target's New Yorker campaign a month or so back?
Posted by: brian
Brian - great question. Will address this in more depth on next week's Across The Sound Podcast.
To answer your question, it's more the latter than the former...that being said, it does raise the question as to whether the roadblock/buyout of an entire publication is excessive thru desperate on a continuum. In the case of Infinity, was this not trying way too hard - and more importantly, I think it backfires in terms of trying to convince or persuade us that they're ok/going to be ok.
Also...what does it say about a brand/company that spends so much money on essentially a one-off effort? Surely there are viable alternatives? What about online? All I'm saying is that in the "innovation" department, Infinity is flatlining.
As far as Target was concerned, I am less critical of their effort for a couple of reasons:
1) Their advertising is somewhat arty and pleasing on the eye
2) There are less viable alternatives out there and in roadblocking an aspirational magazine like New Yorker, they did generate a ton of buzz/PR
...that said, could Target have done more with any of the New Marketing approaches I list in my book? ABSOLUTELY. They have consistently stuck to traditional media and at some point in time, it's going to get stale.
Posted by: jJ
Bravo! Mind if I use this as a guest column on radiobistro.com? Right up our alley.
Posted by: Charlie
Joseph,
Please allow me to offer some perspective. I served with Infinity during Mel's watch which, to be kind, was web-phobic at best. The Infinity website is a light jump from where they were earlier this year. It is certainly a work in progress, give them some time. The history making act of replacing 27 morning shows is perhaps a bit harder than it looks - and it is, in fact - hard work without question. Rather than argue about Via's creative approach to the Ad Age insertions, the fact that Infinity has done something - both big and bold - should merit some praise. Ditto the CEO's upcoming webcast. I give them an A for effort. The watch of Joel Hollander has been a radical and, to me, a fresh, needed departure from Infinity's past.
Posted by: David Martin
David - you bring up a point which Andy Sernovitz raised at BlogOn...is the blogosphere too harsh on companies that are "trying"
I'm going to leave it up to my readers (myself and yourself included of course) to continue this very important discussion.
While I do feel like effort is commendable, these are companies with ridiculously large budgets and coffers...one would think that they would be able to do this properly; not half-hearted; not half-assed; no baby steps.
Why would they not hire the talent - in-house, freelance or consulting - in order to make sure that when they execute (and the world IS watching), that they do this properly.
Make no mistake...this isn't an indirect way of saying, "hire me" - but it is a voice on behalf of a very knowledgeable base of budding/aspiring experts that are itching to be able to step up and help the sea of mainstream publishers, agencies and marketers.
Posted by: jJ
Anybody who knows me well knows that I'm probably the biggest Van Halen fan you'll ever meet. And I think David Lee Roth is going to fall flat on his face with this gig.
But that's not the point. The real point is that Infinity doesn't seem to understand the new mechanics of getting people juiced about their new lineup. Buying print ads in trade publications? Please...that's what everyone expects.
There's something arrogant and annoying about Infinity's approach. Perhaps it's this notion of, "Hey, look at what we're going to be broadcasting at you in the coming months." There's no interactivity. There's no appeal to a sense of community. Meanwhile, Stern and his community of listeners appear to be preparing to make satellite a very exciting place to be in the next few years. I'm not even a Stern listener, but I'm very excited anyway.
Posted by: Tom Hespos
