Next week’s photo will be the lady in the bath in Room 237. Surely a role Pat Stephenson was born to play.

I wholeheartedly endorse a level of control over the advertising and promotion of alcohol but when does it go to far. We already have extensive regulation over the promotion of alcohol and if it needs to be updated or revised then so-be-it but it should be done in consultation with the industry. Where does regulation stop and our responsibility to ourselves begin?

But this only tips the iceberg of the vulnerable households, if you look at mortgages in arrears of 60 days or more, 1 in 5 mortgages owners are behind in their payment schedule. And if you look beyond that again, there are now 400,000 people behind with their utility payments (who have probably been advised to pay their mortgages first).

Given that there are about 1.6m households in the State, this puts 25% of homes in some sort of financial difficulty.

Much as been written in the last couple of weeks, in particular in The Irish Time’s excellent series, about the ‘Squeeze Middled’ in our society. And this is the group that is more likely to fall into the financial pitfalls mentioned above. They are most likely to be in their 30’s and early 40’s, with young families, interesting many still have jobs (but are trying to get by on incomes that have been cut by 20% or more).

And this ‘New Poor’ group tend not to know what they might be entitled to, how to go about seeking State support, and if they do look for help will typically find that their employment/income/assets (the heavily mortgaged home) put them over thresholds for any benefits or allowances.

The Celtic Tiger years meant (I am reverting to a past popular model – good old Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs) that many Irish people presumed the first layers of need as a given and were all about achieving self-actualisation. Today unfortunately we find that many of the people we are targeting with our goods and services are in fact focused back on their more basic needs, and brands that can offer them a parachute at any level (from value for money, meeting a real consumer need, or providing them with those moments of self-actualisation that were once more common) are likely to be the ones to succeed.

Here’s a question. Are there no clash codes for banner advertising?

I’m not a media expert, but I do recall that for TV and Radio the media buyers ensured that when they booked a spot for a client they used ‘clash codes’ to ensure their ad wouldn’t appear alongside a competitor in the same ad break.

It’s kind of like the Queensberry Rules for advertising. Designed to encourage a fair fight, prevent low blows and generally protect the combatants. However the image above would suggest no such rules exist for online advertising. If I were a brand owner of either of these companies I would be a bit peeved. If I was the owner of the brand who was the more expensive of the two I would be a bit embarrassed too. You would think that if you’ve paid to be there then you’ve paid to be there on your own.

I’m sure if they were challenged on it the website or the ad server will say it’s a simple mistake but this isn’t the first time I have noticed it (car insurance being a regular example). Surely each incidence is a waste of advertising budget and a significantly diminished performance for the banners in question.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the clients are happy to go head-to-head in a Clash of The Titans style bust up. Imagine it for a second, an MPU v Skyscraper showdown. Every webpage a potential Battle Royal. Would give a whole new meaning to page takeover.

As it is it’s just annoying. Can we not just straighten it all out or at least take it outside and leave me to read my paper in peace.

PM

Anyway RIP David and if you have a couple of minutes spare check out this snippet from his IFTA lifetime achievement award from a couple of years ago – he had some way with words and a great voice to boot.

If you don’t here’s my summary:

Sometimes all the money in the world can’t buy you a decent idea.
Met-life have been watching Muller ads.
Beer brands have more money than sense.
Coke rolled out the Polar bears. Pepsi rolled out Elton John. Coke wins.
VW should have left Star Wars in 2011. The cantina. Really. Again.
Seinfeld almost cracked it with Acura.
Go Daddy have a poster in their office that says “sex sells’ and there not taking it down. Ever.
Car ads now look like badly over CGI’d Hollywood blockbusters.
Hollywood blockbusters now look like badly CGI’d Car ads.

And then there’s my favorite. Hyundai’s Rocky ad.

It’s not a particularly great ad. Some of the acting sucks. But I can’t help it. It’s the only one I remember in a good way.

Here it is if you get bored with the other link:

Patrick.

PS – Shame on you Ferris. Shame.

There are quite a few things that I’d rather be sprayed with than Lynx, Mace, Pepper Spray and whatever comes out of Pepe le Pew spring to mind. But even though it’s a product I don’t really like, “the Lynx effect” is an evergreen idea that I can’t help but admire. And with the release of their latest ad “unleash the chaos”,

I have to wonder, even if individually they aren’t all the best ads, is it the best campaign of all time?

When I were but a lad, Lynx was launched with fragrances like Spice and Oriental. By the time I hit 12, they had evolved to include sophisticated fragrances for the more discerning teenager, Africa and Inca. The genius behind the campaign was a positioning statement that hasn’t changed in over 20 years –“Your ally in the dating game”. It’s so simple it’s brilliant. Not only would Lynx help me get African and as far as I knew at the time Incan women, but it would surely help get me a girl in my class.

Year after year the campaign has continued, with ad after ad after ad –all tagged with the same premise. Use this-get girls. And while there have been a few ads that truly broke the bounds of credibility (spray more –get more, really?), as an adolescent fantasy – it definitely works.

But the best thing about the campaign is that it never runs out. They seem to keep being able to go back to the insight and come up with something new.

And surely that’s the sign of a great piece of planning.

Rory

The proof of their music choice was proven when the track went to number 1 in 20 countries.

Here’s a reminder of the 3 minute version

Move on 10 years. It’s the year of the 2012 Olympics. BMW are sponsors. They are sitting down with their agency trying to make the most of the Olympic Games opportunity. Their brand campaign is all about ‘Joy’ and the model they want to feature is the 3 series. The agency proposal probably went as follows we will splice beauty shots of the car, with sports action from a variety of well known Olympics sports, and we will feature copy that draws comparisons between the athletes and the car around performance, balance, agility, control and culminates in the notion that what all winners have in common is Joy. You can see why this might have been a runner with BMW.

And then the bit I think was lazy – they suggested using the same ‘A Little Less Conversation’ remix as Nike used 10 years ago. Where is the BMW brand association here? It (sort of) does performance but where is the joy or the winning? The song talks of ‘A little less conversation’ but the ad has a constant copy conversation going throughout the commercial through its supers.

So my challenge….Guys, what about getting real cut-thru for the BMW message? You are leveraging a sports sponsorship as were Nike 10 years ago, using a piece of music that is synonymous with Nike, on an ad that probably targets the lads who were the bullseye of the Nike ad in 2002 (and bought the track back then), and will hopefully now be in the market for a BMW, who are going to spend half the ad thinking of Nike.

I have done a straw poll and so far the response I am getting is surprise that a brand as normally stylish and thoughtful as BMW should chose what feels like a copycat piece of music.

The only tenuous link I could find between BMW and Elvis is the BMW 507 he drove in Germany in 1958. Maybe that was the sales pitch for ‘A Little Less Conversation’.

McDonalds has learnt a valuable lesson in the importance of how you phrase your hashtag. Vague tags, or those with an obvious double meaning, are akin to donning a set of antlers and strolling through the woods during hunting season. This particular incident was created by #McDstories. You can see some of the comments here, but let’s just say that if you simply ask for stories, usually the bad stories will be the most interesting, and the most shared. In a statement from McDonalds, their Social Media Director said “With all social media campaigns, we include contingency plans should the conversation not go as planned.” This is very true, however the greatest (and possibly the only) point of control you have is at the very start. So if you’re going to start the ball rolling, make sure you’re pointed it in the right direction.

Johnny Castle: “What’s your real name, Baby?”

Baby Houseman: “Frances. After the first woman in the cabinet”.

A youthful me watching the video at home: “Frances. After St. Francis.”

Mention Dirty Dancing and it stimulates responses varying from the obvious “What is it with girls and Dirty Dancing?” to a vaguely threatening note passed to me this morning proclaiming “Girls are stupid”. But I disagree.  And no matter what people think, I shall remain true to my beliefs.  Frances “Baby” Houseman taught me that.  That, and how not to carry a watermelon.

Don’t these detractors see the film’s many layers? The special relationship between father and daughter, the passing of bygone eras, the excitement and intensity of first love, hard hitting issues that the 9 year old me (and Mary Doran) didn’t really get (Penny got knocked up by Robbie the Creep?), the dancing….

I could go on and I haven’t even mentioned spaghetti arms, wearing your pants outside your tights or “The Lift” yet.

The naysayers won’t win.  This film is 25 years old and shows no sign of slowing down. It has an extremely successful facebook page, a social media game, excellent DVD sales, a prequel, an upcoming (and terrifying) remake and a stage musical which I’m off to this evening in Grand Canal theatre. Canal eh?

“You know the best place to practice lifts is in the water”.

I’m bringing my armbands.