Jaffe Juice

Crap on

I know the title might suggest otherwise (I couldn't resist), but I actually like this latest print ad in the ongoing MPA trade campaign:

1) It's "on sense" - use magazines to advertise magazines

2) It's honest - a love affair with a magazine (ala previous efforts) is a huge reach, but turning to a magazine after indulging in too much curry is a slam dunk

3) It's irreverent - the tone and angle is a breath of air-freshener and is a welcome relief.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the little boy's room with a copy of People to lament Retief Goosen's collapse at the US Open!

jaffe on the money

A 6-minute clip discussing Life after the 30-second spot and the future of advertising from CT-12's "On the Money" - with host Rebecca Surran - which aired this weekend. Enjoy.

Unpredictable, this ain't

I know I'm generalizing, but then again this is what the agency world does best, so why shouldn't I...

In my earlier post, I noted that Fallon and Beamer are parting ways. What I didn't explicitly state - which one my readers caught - was that there had been a CMO change, which is something I wrote about in my book, namely that in this ego-driven industry, an exec change normally means a review (we are in the emotion business after all)

On the same day, Sprint/Nextel announces that they've selected my alma mater, TBWA\Chiat\Day for their new combined account. The interesting point here is that although Sprint acquired Nextel (TBWA\C\D's agency), the new CMO post was given to the Nextel CMO...and his agency was TBWA\C\D. You dig?

I know there's more to both stories, but coincidences are really so, and so often the simplest explanation is more likely than not, the correct one.

The next version of BMW Films will not star Fallon

BMW Films is, was, and maybe always will be the quintessential poster child of new marketing. Being first has its advantages, but when you're on top...everyone wants a piece of you. Many people demanded to know the ROI before they deemed this to be a success. David Lubars was headhunted to BBDO so they could infuse a Films-like creative-ethos across its tired culture and approach. Jim McDowell nonchalantly sidestepped from BMW to Mini, in order to work on his tan and surf-skills with the folks over at CP+B. The last bastion was Fallon.

And now no more. BMW and Fallon have parted ways.

Moment's silence and credit where it was due. To all sides.

Who's fooling who(m)?

This is a fascinating subject i.e. the rise of Google and Yahoo (codename: Overture) and how search has dominated the interactive landscape. Google + Yahoo!'s joint revenues are now greater than that of CBS, NBC and ABC's Prime Time revenues combined.

It seems that almost every day Google has another product or service offering, and now Yahoo! seems to be joining the frenetic landscape, where innovation and new product introduction has become a price of entry. But one wonders whether this is cart before the horse and an excuse for PR for PR's sake.

RSS - an early adopter case study

With thanks to the Jabber and Marketing Sherpa, an early adopter advertising case study on RSS (stands for Really Simple Syndication which plays out in advertising form as kind of a Google Adsense meets e-mail meets blogs)

What's next for Jacko? The blogosphere?

I've been thinking about this for a bit and wondering what the future holds for MJ.

Disclaimer: For purposes of this post, let's assume he is in fact not-guilty as decided by a jury of his "peers" - yeah, right about the peers part, not the verdict part. He is after all, one in a few billion...and not really in the best possible way.

If it is broke, don't fix it...

As reported across the board, but props to a reader of "Life after the 30-second spot" who sent this to me (...now that's interactivity), Coke - with the help of Cripin, Porter + Bogusky - are bringing back Hilltop (I'd like to teach the world to sing in pefect harmony), except now it's called Chilltop and now we're teaching the world to chill instead (we'll leave the singing to American Idol)

The spot will be shot on a rooftop in Philly (as opposed to a hilltop in Illy) and will dovetail with the launch of Coke Zero.

My 2c is plain and simple:

1) I hope (and fully expect) they'll use a host of new marketing techniques to give this the "amplification" and "extension" it needs/deserves e.g. download the MP3 of the song

2) I draw the connection from CP+B bringing back BK's "Have it your way" to returning to a familiar and comforting hit (literally and figuratively) for the iconic brand. Why reinvent the wheel, when all it takes is to smartly repurpose it?

Coke's iconic brand status is generational and transcends time when it connects the dots between ourselves (past/present/future) and each other. It obliterates borders and bounderies - geographic, language, cultural etc. - when it is able to make the strongest kind of "communal marketing" play.

I'm eager to see how this plays out...

Fore(ground) A.K.A. Media Hackers

That was a pretty esoteric post title, but what isn't esoteric are the findings from BIGresearch, which should send a chilling message to anyone in the attention business. Here are some excerpts:

• ...the attention spans of media users are not necessarily equitably divided among media, and may in fact migrate from dominant to subordinate positions during multitasking

• media attention spans don't just compete with other media, but with a variety of other non-media activities.

Bob Greenberg, ubercreative and visionary at R/GA, talks about foreground and background, and this data really validates the assertion that the attention business is even more complex than we might have previously thought.

Hewitt's back on the prowl

I met my good friend, Derek Hewitt, at an industry conference about 3 years back (although he wasn't my good friend at the time because I had just met him) when he worked for Philips.

Besides being a fellow ex-South African, I was then (and am still now) impressed with his astute and shrewd grasp of the real convergence: that between technology and consumer(ism) in our personal and professional lives.