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NOW THAT’S GOOD TV

Sep 2, ’11 12:25 PM

Ok, I’ll admit it: I was never a huge fan of the ABC reality show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I would catch it from time to time, but my Sunday evenings used to revolve around Desperate Housewives and the Kardashians.

That all changed a couple of months ago when I got a chance to get a firsthand look at the making of the show. How? Extreme Makeover: Home Edition came to Fayetteville, and I was lucky enough to head up the media team on behalf of our client, the Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. I got to see for myself what goes on behind-the-scenes to produce a 60-minute show that airs on primetime television. We’re talking about months and months of advance planning, lots of which has to take place under a veil of secrecy before the show even announces it’s coming to town. Then, once the official announcement is made, there’s lots more work to be done before the recipient family is announced: volunteer coordination, special event planning, sponsor and donor coordination, marketing and promotions, fundraising, and media outreach of course. If you think things calm down once the family is announced, you’re wrong: that’s when things really get cranked up to full speed. The week of the build is a whirlwind of 24-hour-a-day activity on every front you can imagine. And don’t forget temperatures in Fayetteville hovered around 100 degrees during that entire week!

You would think a grueling schedule and tough conditions like this would all get to be a bit much for the cast and crew of the show. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Everyone on the Extreme team had a permanent smile on their face. They almost always had a minute to speak to an adoring fan or a member of the media. And when they talked about Barbara Marshall and the Jubilee House, the recipients of the new house, it was obvious that they do what they do because they love it. Their passion and dedication drives them to work faster, longer and harder than most people probably dream of doing. It drives them to not mind that they haven’t showered in days and to not remember that they haven’t had on a clean set of clothes in days. It drives them to view what they do on a daily basis as far more than just a job.

The Extreme team truly is changing lives and communities one home at a time. I’m honored that I had the chance to play a small part in that for a brief time this summer.

So now, come Sunday night, you better believe I’ll be curled up on my couch watching my new favorite reality show.

by Leah Knepper Brand Futurist Rubberneck Propaganda Specialist

Photo Credit: Charles Howard via Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

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DEAR MARKETERS: TRY HARDER, PLEASE

Aug 4, ’11 1:41 PM

Stop the press. Hold the elevator.

No one move. I just read an article about how marketers could best connect with my generation this summer, and, wait for it…, “social media” was only mentioned once. No, really, only once.

In an AdAge article last month, Charlie Horsey, President-CEO of MKTG, ventures to describe a method for engaging Gen-Yers in ways other than following a company on Twitter or “liking” them on Facebook. Sorry, Mark. And I, for one, am elated that someone finally gets it. I assure you, not all of us spend our days connected to Facebook like paparazzi to Lady Gaga (what’s left of her, at least).

At more than 60 million strong, we’ve earned the reputation for wanting to discover products ourselves and to make buying decisions on our own, which Horsey purports is marketers’ biggest challenge to overcome. However, a connection with my generation can be made, and once a brand is on our radar, we’ll be loyal to it for some time to come.

Read the article to find out exactly which four ways are recommended for making the critical connection to the Gen Y consumer.

by Chris Barbee Brand Futurist The Republik Corporal Strategic Ops

Photo Credit: © Facebook

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ONE FOR ONE

Jul 2, ’11 12:22 PM

I love shoes. So, naturally, if there’s a way for me to indulge my passion for footwear while also changing the world for the better, sign me up! And that’s exactly what TOMS is all about.

With every pair of shoes purchased, TOMS donates a pair of shoes to a child in need. It’s called One for One. And they’re not stopping with shoes anymore. One for One has been expanded to include sunglasses, too. With every pair of shades purchased, TOMS gives the gift of sight to a person in need through medical treatment, prescription eyeglasses, and/or sight-saving surgery.

What’s so amazing – and unusual – about the TOMS’ movement is that it’s more than lip-service. It’s way more than just a clever marketing ploy. It’s the very foundation of the company, whose unwavering mission is, “…Work[ing] to establish shoe-giving partnerships with humanitarian organizations worldwide that have…a long-term presence in the countries and communities they serve.” In fact, TOMS gave its one-millionth pair of new shoes to a child in need in September 2010. So much for a PR stunt!

TOMS sees itself not as a shoe or a sunglass company but rather as a One for One company. TOMS’ founder believes it’s the company’s obligation to try to improve as many lives around the world as possible by addressing as many different needs as possible. TOMS’ website tells the full story of the One for One movement and where it’s heading in the future.

The more I read, the more I’m convinced that TOMS is changing the world. Sounds like one more reason to go shoe shopping, if you ask me!

Talk about life changing.

by Leah Knepper Brand Futurist Rubberneck Propaganda Specialist

Photo Credit: © TOMS

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AND NOW, FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT

Jun 1, ’11 5:35 PM

Up to now, everything here has been about change. Well, in the spirit of this blog, it’s now time for a big change. I’d like to write about the opposite of change – that is, not doing anything. Or, should I say, sticking to what you believe in, in spite of what everyone (pointed-headed experts included) tells you.

For years, everyone said Apple computer would die if they didn’t start selling to enterprise. For every consumer who buys a computer, the enterprise buys 50, they said.

Yet change didn’t come. Apple kept producing devices that consumers loved, enterprise be damned.

Last week out comes an article that says that the Federal Government is relying on Blackberry devices less and less because, among other reasons, employees love their computers/smart phones at home, and hate their ones at work, and are asking for Apple products at work instead. Companies are smart to realize that when they give their employees a choice, they’re happier.

So I guess the moral is that if you stick to what you believe in, eventually others will change.

by Patrick Miranda Brand Futurist The Republik Sergeant Creative Ops

Photo Credit: © Apple Inc.

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ON TRYING TO BE CREATIVE

Apr 28, ’11 2:20 PM

To instill change in others, and yourself, it often involves being creative. And let me tell you, being creative every single day isn’t easy. Here’s a quote that’s kind of inspirational:

“All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through. Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me.” – Ira Glass

by Miles Cartwright Brand Futurist The Republik Sergeant Creative Ops

Photo Credit: via Gothamist.com

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POST-MODERN PRODUCT PLACEMENT

Mar 16, ’11 1:53 PM

A recent Advertising Age article, “From the Big Screen to Any Screen: Some Takeaways for Marketers and Media Companies”, touches on the current state of product placement, and calls attention to the intentionally blatant and “increasingly campy” ways in which products are being integrated in music videos and TV shows. For example, the article cites Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” video, which provides “huge exposure for brands such as Virgin Mobile, Wonder Bread, Miracle Whip, PlentyOfFish.com and Polaroid.”

So what insight can we glean from Gaga about the future of product placement?  More than you might think. Tongue-in-cheek product placement is nothing new – in Back to the Future (1985) Marty’s mother thinks he’s called Calvin Klein because the name is scrawled all over his underwear – but until recently effective placement was for the most part the art of seamless integration.

Linger too long on Tom Cruise’s Nokia or Will Smith’s Chuck Taylors and you risk losing your audience. No longer.  The line that writers once walked between noticeable placement and artistic legitimacy is being erased.  Whereas overdone product placement once detracted from our experience as viewers, it now enhances it.  As the article in Advertising Age hinted, nowhere is this more obvious than Lady Gaga’s “Telephone,” which involves a kind of self-awareness that allows her to be at once artist and critic. She is able to blatantly push products in her videos because we recognize it as commentary on itself.

by Cody Short Brand Futurist The Republik Corporal Strategic Ops

Photo Credit: Screengrab from Lady Gag’s music video “Telephone”

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