The
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On.
Ain't
Nothing Like
The Real Thing, Maybe.
I
Don't Mean To Say
I Told You So, But...
Are
Consumers Smarter
Then We Are?.
The
Four Great Myths
Of Global Branding.
Mr
Bevis Butts Heads
At Mitsubishi
The
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Of Mice And Men.
Dare
to Be Great:
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Mitsubishi's
New Marketing Boss
Out
Of The Frying Pan.
Concept Is Stronger Than Fact.
Value
Perception In A World
Gone Mad With "Cool"
The
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The
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The
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The
Targets
The
Future of Advertising
The
Grid
The
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The
Swarm
Technology
Making
The Message Meaningful
The Only Business That Matters Is The One You're In.
What
Ever Happened To The
Big Idea?
The Post-Advertising Era Is Here
Confessions Of A" Liar For Hire"
THEFUTURE OF
THE
SECRET
TO OUR SUCCESS.
The
truth is MadisonAveNew.com
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The Post-Advertising Era 1.2. Good, Bad and Ugly At the Moment of Truth I'm the first person to look around the room when somebody says "who came up with that?" I always want to find out who the original thinkers are so that I can either hire them for my team or keep them out of the clutches of the opposition team. Our recent discussions on these pages about the end of the Age of Advertising and the dawn of the Post-Advertising Era, is clearly splitting the world into two camps. Those who "get it" and those who remain clueless. Certainly I'm noticing an increase in the traffic between the two camps as more and more thought leaders cross over from one faction to another. |
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The velocity of that traffic is quite evident when you consider that the traffic to this particular outpost on the Post-Advertising roadmap has experienced an amazing 232% increase in the past two weeks alone. Over the next few weeks I will be talking to those immigrants who are altering their perceptions either by their actions or by following their instincts away from the tried and true and out onto the windswept plain of "No More Advertising As Usual" |
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I've been sharing your column on this Post-Advertising Era with all of the people on my markeing team. And Our agencies. Terrific stuff. keep it coming.- Thresa C.. -New York Let the cleaning lady in on it too. She might be able to help some of these Bozos find work. -HW |
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One of the first creative practitioners to attract my attention with their breakaway attitudes about consumer communications is Design Director Angela Glenn, whose award winning work for DNA Studio and Designory inspired her to open her own firm, Glenn Design and lead her to question "conventional wisdom" now that she was in a position to call her own shots. While working together on a completely off- the - hook campaign for European Super Star, Thomas Eje, We spent three hours at a bistro on Santa Monica Beach brainstorming on strategy. During a break we talked process as it relates to "No More Advertising As Usual" thinking. We started the discussion with the question "where does truth begin in the Post-Advertising Era?" Coming from a graphic design background, her response wasn't far from what I expected. "Wherever the truth begins, I'm quite sure it doesn't have to be ugly." A statement that set the tone for the rest of our conversation. Because even as a one time art director, I hadn't thought of the fact that the truth actually did have a look and feel. The thought started me on the subject of other attributes of truth as it relates to Post-Advertising Consumer Communications. How about the connotations of "good" and "bad?" Ms. Glenn's response to my statement that "Truth doesn't have to be bad but it does have to be meaningful" mirrored her own respect for all things truthful. "Why would the truth be bad? The truth is pulling out all the best things and running with them! It's the ultimate in fairness. It's a leveling of the playing field and allowing the underdog to have a shot. Why would that be bad?" Right away she had me on the ropes regarding the basic difference between advertising and design. Which is one of the reasons I see designers as the ones they talk about when they mention folks arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. But the truth is, if you say "Truth In Advertising" people can't help but snicker. If you say "Truth In Design," nobody misses a beat. Which leads me to believe that the design community may have a leg up on the art director community in the new order of things. We went back to the look of the "truth" and it's relationship to consumer perception. Ms. Glenn believes that "ugly" is a whole different ball of wax from "bad" "Ugly is what prevents people from ever looking at a message to determine whether it is good or bad for their way of thinking," she told me. "Ugly is what separates the men from the boys in terms of quality." I agreed and offered that ugly was harder to define. Ms. Glenn had no difficulty defining it. She offered right away that, " Ugly is why you hire someone who knows and not your goddamn nephew. It's a matter of taste, and most people only have taste in their mouths. Advertising seems to believe we have to appeal on that level in order to be effective." I
countered that ugly was relative to the beholder." "I don't believe
that." Ms. Glenn stated with years of conviction. " To a certain
level, you can say that, but when you push beyond that level and
get to the "wow" state, and everyone is standing with their mouths
open, going, "fuck!", you begin to realize how wrong Madison Avenue
has been all these years". Trying to sound like I wasn't completely out of my league here, I suggested, "Then there is a relationship between truth and order?" Her response, "it's not about order." Naturally, I countered with the observation that lies are messy, thinking I had her aced. Wrong. "It's not about order in the fussy, polite way people always talk about design. It's about impact. And that can mean beauty. Even deep, dark stuff can be beautiful. The key is the story I have to tell, and why is it better than the other guy's, For this particular audience. It may be a different story and it may have different benefits for a different audience. Order comes in the execution, but it shouldn't be evident as order. that makes it too obvious." Did I mention that this Angela Glenn lady was one smart piece of work. "Design is about appropriateness not good or bad or order." she went on to say. To what standard, I asked, already knowing the answer. "Mine" it came without even the blink of an eye. "Not the truth?" I questioned, thinking I had her in a corner. "Now you are talking about conscience. I have it, but if you don't, that's your problem." she stated. Now I was beginning to feel very small. But I was also beginning to see the kind of steel these Post-Advertising Era practitioners were made of. "What if Post-Advertising were based upon conscience rather than perception?" I asked. "Are you taking away the ability to control the playing field, or are you simply making it more challenging? Because I am always voting for the latter. I love the challenge. everything is a challenge. bring it ON. in my world you can have it all. In my world we choose our clients based on whether or not we believe in them." I had to change horses. She was making me look bad here. "Does the agreement of a large number of users that a product is "better" convince you more effectively of the claim "better" than an advertiser's claim?" I asked, trying to get her to assume the role of a consumer, thinking that might really save my sorry ass from looking like the "Liar for Hire" I had admitted to in last weeks episode. "Better is a generic statement. It needs to be specific. Better how?" Angela responded. I knew now why her clients worshipped the ground she walked on. She left them no alternative. I offered up the proposition that the beginning of the Post-Advertising Era must then start with the consumer's acceptance of the claim "better" being the truth. Of course she answered my pronouncement with, "No." "Why not?" I blinked trying to defend my ill conceived end game statement. "Because we don't accept things we are told. We accept things we experience." My concern for being able to dominate this conversation was fading slowly into the setting sun. Of course , at his point, she was coming in for the kill. "It's all about how you feel when presented with anything related to the product or the company. The pure, visceral reaction that overcomes you, in your head, in your heart, that may not be explainable. There is no prior experience necessary. It is what you experience when presented with the personal knowledge of it. That single instant, that you come to believe." When she said it the light went off. "Then the Post-Advertising Era Begins The Moment You Believe." I said proudly. "Perhaps, " she smiled. "But that sounds like a Disney movie. The Post-Advertising Era Begins The Moment They Believe." I finished my drink and called for the check. My work here was done. Stay tuned .
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