TV ads: first entertain

People switch on the TV, and turn on other broadcast mediums, primarily to be entertained by drama, action, comedy, reality/talk/game/talent shows, sports, music and even news content these days (if we’re honest with ourselves.)  So, when to be entertained is the purpose for tuning in, why is the bulk of advertising seen and heard via these channels so bland, having precisely the opposite effect of what entertainment offers?  Surely, the first criteria for any broadcast advertisement  – before announcing key benefits of the product/service/brand – must be that it entertains on some level in order to engage with the audience that the advertiser is appealing to.  Unfortunately, in most cases those producing the ads just maintain the status quo and adhere to outdated marketing theories.  Consequently the advertisers' dollars are wasted, and the audience largely switches off to their message.  With restrictions lifted on new ideas, and the willingness, energy and creativity to develop entertaining ads, it would be a different story.

Heroes: behind the scenes

Every high profile hero with thousands and thousands of fans has a team of people working behind the scenes to promote their personal brand to the public.  In effect, it is these people who are responsible for establishing and building their following, rather than the hero themselves.

The hero's story would have most likely started with their talent, passion, drive, self belief and perseverance that lead to their great success in film, TV, music, sports, politics, military and so on.

But it is the team of strategists, managers, copywriters, graphic designers, video producers, perception consultants, creative directors, researchers, publicists, advertising agencies, photographers, social media and SEO experts, website developers, stylists and other professionals who enable the hero to amplify their persona, reach and capture a broad audience, and leave a lasting brand impression.

What if a dynamic business owner with the same heroic qualities -  talent, passion, drive, self belief and perseverance - had an affordable marketing team who could provide all these fully integrated services to elevate their brand in the public eye and grow their fan-base?  Wouldn't this brand achieve great success with its audience too, with business growth a direct result?  Yes, of course - the same rules apply.  

And such a marketing team exists.  That team is us.

For more information visit: http://cowanandpartners.com.au/who-we-are.aspx

Drawing inspiration from real inspiration

Partner blog by Thomas Abramson (Ideas Developer)

'Manufactured inspiration' - a fabrication of the 'divine influence' that has a rousing affect on all of us with a specified feeling or thought - is prevalent today in the media, the world of entertainment, news, sports, celebrity reporting and politics.

But 'manufactured inspiration' can only inspire for so long before it dries up.  We really connect and are uplifted by the authentic stories of people who aren't trying to be inspirational.  Their rich stories of overcoming personal obstacles and doing the right thing for others around them are real.

The true story of King George VI being compelled to speak to the world with a stammer, and finding his voice to make the first wartime radio broadcast on Britain's declaration of war on Germany in 1939, resulted in the superior historical drama that is "The King's Speech."  

In October this year, "The King's Speech" inspired a teacher to help his young student overcome his stammer when presenting to an audience.

See:  http://www.upworthy.com/watch-a-teenager-bring-his-class-to-tears-just-by-saying-a-few-words-2?g=2

Both people are hugely inspiring for what they achieved. But neither person set out to be inspirational.  They just did what they had to do.

Musings I

Partner blog series by Helen Page (Perception Consultant.)  Through observations, insights and thoughts, Helen takes existing words, messages and social behaviour, and presents them with a different, refreshing perspective...

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Recreational

"Recreational" is an interesting word, isn't it?

Re-create.  'Re' comes from 'again' and 'create' -  well, that one's obvious.  What's interesting however is it's lineage comes from 'crescent' and 'crescendo' apparently.  Rising up.  A lift.  To make.

Yes, "recreational" is good.

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Don't

The brain doesn't register "don't."  "Don't smoke", "don't eat crap", "don't push the red button."  What does one do with these instructions?  "Smoke like a Frenchman, eat buckets of hot chips and, oh yes, we will push the red button."

Don't say don't.

:::

Outnumbered

Like anything, if outnumbered, things get scary ... like with tropical fish, rocks and hipsters.

Anchorman 2: Too Much Too Soon?

Partner blog by John Turnbull (Creative Writing Consultant)

When Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy released back in 2004, the film was a moderate success in the US but a relative failure internationally.  With a production budget of $26 million, the film made $28 million at the box office in opening weekend and went on to a lifetime domestic gross of $85 million. International revenues were far softer, adding just over $5 million to the gross – a measly 6% of the box office total.  By comparison, Steve Carrell’s 40 Year Old Virgin made 38% of its revenue from international markets, helping the film to a lifetime international box office of $109 million. 

Since that time Anchorman has built up a serious cult following on DVD, including the release of a second movie cut from out-takes from the first. While 'Wake Up, Ron Burgundy' isn’t up to the quality of the original, it’s somewhat remarkable that a director can cut two distinct full length films from a single shoot.  It is this success in the home viewing market (along with unrelenting pressure from fans) that has led to the development of a sequel – announced in newsworthy fashion by an in-character Will Ferrell on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. This announcement was made in March 2013, a full 9 months before the release of the movie:

youtube.com/watch?v=MrNA7RjU91I

Standard film marketing campaigns tend to commence one to two weeks prior to release and run for a couple of weeks in-season (longer if the film is successful.)  By comparison, blockbuster ‘tent-pole’ releases like Avatar and Transformers often start their marketing campaigns two to three months prior to release date, with promotional materials drip fed to a hopefully eager audience.  Due to the way that movie distribution deals work, distributors make the most money on opening weekend, and exhibitors make progressively more money the longer the film stays on screen.  This means that it is in distributors' best interests to maximise opening weekends rather than let films build an audience based on word of mouth. The result of this is that marketing costs often outstrip production budgets by a factor of 2 or 3 times – so if a film costs $50 million to make it’s not unusual for global marketing costs to exceed $150 million. 

And that’s before you get the talent involved. 

Promotional tours with A-list talent are not cheap.  Promo tours with top-tier A-League talent like Will Ferrell and Steve Carrell (along with strong B-lister Paul Rudd and pretty-much-along-for-the-ride David Koechner) cost a fortune.  On top of the business class airfares and 5 star hotels there is a phalanx of hangers-on and a list of celebrity demands as long as your arm – but from a publicity standpoint a good tour is priceless. Aside from generating extensive ‘free’ media coverage, talent tours can broaden the appeal of a film beyond core audiences.  Ron Burgundy’s in-character media blitz culminated in appearance on Channel 10’s The Project opposite media icon Ray Martin, which undoubtedly attracted some older viewers to the film – as long as they don’t lose interest over the next three and a half weeks. 

Since the March announcement we have been treated to multiple Ron Burgundy appearances - from the Australian election, to the Melbourne Cup, AFL Grand Final and even the announcement of the new Doctor. While the media campaign for Anchorman 2 has yet to truly hit, we can expect to see TV spots, outdoor posters and online ads aplenty, growing in weight and urgency as December 19th approaches. 

It is in this point that the Anchorman 2 campaign runs into murky waters.  Is there a chance that viewers could get tired of The News Team’s antics? With limited assets (unless they plan to spoil every joke in the movie) and a heavyweight media campaign still building momentum, there is a significant risk of message fatigue or even backlash.  Add to this box office expectations in excess of $25 million and heavy Summer competition from films like The Hobbit, Frozen and Saving Mr Banks, Anchorman 2 faces an uphill battle to retain interest when the best part of the campaign has just flown out… 

But I’m still planning to see it on opening weekend. 

John Turnbull is a writer, editor and balloon pilot, and has spent 10 years working in film marketing 

Read more from John at: independentaustralia.net

All box office figures are from Box Office Mojo

Putting yourself out there

Authenticity in art and business rules – as witnessed with ‘The Spark – Volume One’ book launch event and exhibition, held earlier this year at Tap Gallery, Sydney.

‘The Spark – Volume One’ is the first project from the collective label Story Nation (founded by Matt Cowan, Garth Lidbetter, Jeremy Shaw and Paul Hanna, with other members of Cowan & Partners having key roles.)  In the book and on display at the exhibition we featured raw, evocative photography of people with their anecdotes about their personal “a ha” moments – what first sparked them to set off on their journey and make an impact in various fields.

However, the personalities featured in “The Spark – Volume One” are not high profile celebrities – they’re everyday people from the worlds of music, health, retail, community development, hospitality, law, training, importing, personal development, fair trade, mail logistics and charity.  By creatively presenting a very real picture of these personalities, Story Nation invited people to discover and interpret meaning from each subject for themselves.

We were rewarded with a terrific, capacity attendance for the launch event (rated “9 out of 10” by the Tap Gallery managing director Lesley Dimmick), along with a healthy turn-out for the weekend of the exhibition – all people curious at heart who appreciate quality photography and honest, interesting stories that they can relate to and connect with.  

For business owners, putting yourself out there and letting people in on your story and beliefs – in a compelling way - will garner a similar reception from others.

‘The Spark – Volume One’ photography is by Jeremy Shaw, recently recognised as a National Photographic Portrait Gallery Prize Finalist for 2013:

portrait.gov.au/site/exhibition_subsite_NPPP2013_photos.php#start

More at:

http://www.storynation.com.au/the-spark.aspx

http://storynationaus.tumblr.com

http://www.facebook.com/storynationaus

Applying the design lens 'up front'

Partner blog by Mark Maric (of Electric Pixels.)

The development and management of a company’s identity and visual assets can be overwhelming and complex - which is why the designer needs to be involved at every stage of the process to ensure a consistent and successful outcome. 

During the infancy of any project there is a genuine excitement and positive atmosphere with discussions about aspirations, expectations, direction, key outcomes, positioning and strategy amongst other variables. 

Once the project has started, with the task to capture the energy that was felt at the start, inevitably there are suggestions made from outside the core group that can change the plan and cause the project to divert on a completely different course.

By the end, exhaustion and frustration has reared its ugly head and the project looks nothing like the original plan, and a compromise has been made somewhere down the track as time runs out. The ultimate vision and enthusiasm that was felt at the beginning has all but diminished and not been carried through to the end.  

A designated group has a stronger focus and a more powerful outcome than a ‘design by committee’ attitude. The designer can guide that process and maintain the integrity of the design, without any compromise in the standards that have been set, avoiding any unnecessary roadblocks along the way.

The designer has the foresight and understanding of the complexity that goes with developing a company’s identity and how all the elements should combine. A company identity has many subsets and is required to accommodate supportive material across a variety of channels - the designer has the capabilities to provide the cohesion of the identity across websites, merchandise, promotional material and a wide gamut of touch-points where an identity needs to be integrated.

For more about Mark:

cowanandpartners.com.au/who-we-are.aspx?id=4

For more about Electric Pixels:

electricpixels.com.au / mark@electricpixels.com.au