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One
thing was certain. Slick Willy got their attention. But in the end,
did the words we put in his mouth resonate with our ADD impacted
audience? He was popular, but was he cool? His apology was
sincere, but was it compelling? And, as for our theme line, "Doing
The Right Thing" in Nic's words, "Boooorring, how politically
correct is that for the politically incorrect era?"
Nothing
deflates a bunch of high-paid hipper-then-thou Hollywood creatives
faster than a "do over" for the "civilians"
in the "fly-over states." It was a wonder to behold. Guys
who made their bones egging studio heads into bidding wars, grumbling
about, "But my girlfriend thought the campaign was way cool.
So did my ex-wife. No matter, Jackson. We're DoubleThinking it.
So, back to square oneski.
Two
or three pimpslaps later and we began to get back into harness.
One of the things we had learned from readers in the ALLTEL Trading
area was, that the company had a very strong customer service perception.
In fact, a couple of readers went so far as to call them "Heroic"
in satisfying their particular telephonic concerns. That seemed
as good as any a place to start. In the words of Jack from Atlanta,
" Alltel may just need something radical ..."
Certainly
after putting DoubleThink up as all that and a bowl of grits, we
had to do something truely off the hook our second time out.
Kevin,
one of our wackier screenwriters started talking about being up
at a wedding in Napa and getting so crocked he lost his cell phone
and missed an important call from an A List producer. That started
the ball rolling. Soon, everybody was relating their war stories
of how their cell phones had saved the day in one way or another.
We got back to "Heroic" and Jack's comment about "Something
Radical."
One
of the Directors was highly incensed about the dig from Jeff in
AdRants about not finding our campaign "humorous." He
started cracking us up with humorous "On Location" stories
where a cell phone or lack thereof caused untold havoc that made
people laugh to keep from crying.
One
of our rules of engagement is that during these creative sessions
all cell phones are off and placed on the table so that nobody can
sneak out and get a cell fix. One of the crew used our levity to
go to the bathroom and relieve himself, we thought. One of our more
astute member happened to notice that not only was he MIA, but so
was his cell phone. Our host volunteered to listen at the door.
Sure enough, he was on the phone. Somebody cracked, "When
you gotta call, you gotta call." That started us down the
path of the time sensitive nature that drives the need for cellular
service in our business. Now we were on to something. The something
we were on to, was the importance of "Now."
In
some way we had to create a campaign that allowed ALLTEL to own
the concept of "Now." To see what we came up with
click here...now.
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The
Only Story That Counts. Once
upon a time there was something called Brand Mythology. These
were stories founded upon something called conventional wisdom.
Conventional wisdom had it that the Pennsylvania Railroad
was "The Standard Railroad of the World",
and so people and companies and even municipal governments
believed that this was so.
As a result,
when the PRR stated that the way our Nation told time was
unsuited for its "Standard" of operations, the PRR
established the concept of Time Zones and Eastern, Central.
Mountain and Pacific Time was born. When the PRR said the
width of a railroad track was 5ft. 3in. That is what it
became all across our land.
The
PRR was the "Standard Railroad of the World"
because they said they were and as a result they became
the largest transportation company in the world, on
the strength of such common wisdom. And America's first
billion dollar corporation. Such was the power of Brand
Mythology.
Then
a new, upstart company came to the PRR and said, "You
fellas have it all wrong. These coal-burning behemoths
that huff and puff your trains over the Alleghenies are a
thing of the past." Since the business of the PRR was
to haul coal, they scoffed at the idea that the steam engine
would go the way of the horse and buggy.
Even
when it was proven that these newfangled diesel locomotives
could do twice the work for half the cost, the PRR held out.
But every other railroad overthrew the common wisdom of the
PRR and scrapped their steamers in favor of these shiny newcomers.
And soon the manufacturer of those diesels, the General
Motors Corp. became the largest transportation company in
the world.
And
when they saw that Americans longed for the independence of
movement afforded by the open road rather than the railroad,
they, along with the oil companies and the road builders used
their considerable power and resources to convince the city,
state and Federal Governments that "What is good for
General Motors is good for the USA".
And
the government began investing billions of taxpayer dollars
in the Interstate highway networks that ultimately did in
the dominance of the railroads and put two cars in every garage.
Common wisdom had prevailed.
Until
a company named IBM convinced General Motors and the
other companies of the Fortune 500 that information was the
key to improved efficiency and productivity. With this information
they could plan the exact time-frame of their products becoming
obsolete and thus insure that the market would constantly
rejuvenate itself.
The
IBM Brand Mythology was both simple and compelling, because
it rang true to commonly held beliefs. Conventional wisdom
held that "Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM",
"What is good for General Motors is good for the USA",
The PRR was "The Standard Railroad of the World."
These were more than crass advertising blurbs. These were
the mantras of common corporate wisdom upon which vast
degrees of shareholder value were built. They were and
in many cases still are, truisms of the American lexicon.
These were the most powerful brand voices the world had ever
known.
Until
the events of history conspired to make such "truisms"
irrelevant. Viet Nam, Watergate, Monica Lewinsky, the Internet,
9/11 and Enron all lead up to the current age of skepticism.
Gladys Knight said it best in the lines of "Heard
It Through The Grape Vine" and I quote, "Son,
believe half of what you see and none of what you hear".
This is the mindset of the consumer in todayÕs world gone
mad with spin.
And
now, what about the companies that have determined a need
for their own "Brand Mythology?" In today's world
of relentless hype and ruthless consumer skepticism, such
a story requires far more than just another "Senior Copy
Writer". Just look around you. What does does your
brand stand for in the hearts and minds of its various publics?
Certainly
you would hope to stand for the excellence of your product
offerings, your innovative technologies, your market dominance.
But this is the age of insincerity. Today questions
speak louder than statements. If you were, say Macromedia
a few months back, you would be faced with questions like,
"WhatÕs up with Jeremy Allaire's departure?", "Will
Microsoft pull the trigger on a hostile takeover bid",
"Why did they close their Dallas Office", "What
about this policy of firing engineers after their products
launch. Who is gonna work out the bugs?", "With
Allaire gone, what will happen with Homesite?", "Did
they ever fix the scaleability issues with Cold Fusion?",
"WhatÕs up with all of those Vice Presidents?" Those
are just a few of the skeleton's in one small company closet.
The
mythology of a brand starts with questions that have no satisfactory
answers because those questions speak louder than any statement's
ability to make them go away. Questions are met with "No
shit?". Statements are met with "Bull Shit!"
To craft the "voice" of your brand requires far
more than able storytelling. It requires the crafting
of a whole new Brand Mythology.
When
people began to be concerned about losing their jobs for buying
IBM because of lock-in, complexity and endless consulting
fees, IBM embraced open-standards and became the patron saint
of Linux. They got proactive in laying the groundwork for
a new Brand Mythology with the low-cost lie that is the Linux
OS.
When
Microsoft got their hand slapped for predatory business practices,
they shifted their focus to overseas markets and still got
caught with their pants down. Microsoft laid the groundwork
for their global ".Net" Brand Mythology with bricks
from the same old story. In the case of IBM and Microsoft,
the "stories" where found to be fairytales and the
result was the erosion of shareholder value.
In
the meantime Michael Dell petitioned his board to drop the
word "Computers" from the company's nameplate, because
they are now a lot more than low-end PCÕs. Mr. Dell is laying
the groundwork for a whole new story. A Brand Mythology based
upon the dominance of "commodity" computing category.
But those who know better, know it's just another spin on
"Shake and Ship"
Today,
Information Technology is a commodity. An entire industry
of very smart people. People who never saw it coming.
Value
Perception will emerge as the only way to assure shareholder
value. The voice of the brand–any product or services
brand–will have to be based upon the successful stewardship
of Value Perception. Value Perception is not a story that
starts with product or process development and engineering.
It is a story that starts when the product or service results
in the user muttering "kewl". Crafting such a
story in the age of skepticism requires the skills of masterful
brand practitioners. Unfortunately, great storytellers
are few and far between. So at the end of the day, the
only story that should count to you is the story you will
need to devise to entreat such a rare practitioner to craft
a masterful Brand Mythology for you.
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The
Greatest Man Who Never Lived, Revisited.
There
was such a landslide of e-mail regarding the piece on Mark Anthony
Cristini in last week's column that even I was amazed. One guy said,
"I would give anything to walk in that guy's shoes for just
one week." Several others wrote, asking if anyone was doing
a book on his life. I wrote back and told them "Yes. It will
be an autobiography."
In
fact, Mark and I had started a book on him entitled "Friends,
Romans And Countrymen, This Is How the World Really Works."
Three weeks later, he was gone.
Mark
had the world's greatest collection of lawyer jokes and so for those
of you who wanted just a little bit more of this remarkable scoundrel,
here are just a few, that I can remember.
A
barber gave a haircut to a priest one day. The priest tried to pay
for the haircut but the barber refused saying, "I cannot accept
money from you, for you are a good man - you do God's work." The
next morning the barber found a dozen bibles at the door to his
shop. A policeman came to the barber for a haircut, and again the
barber refused payment saying, "I cannot accept money from you,
for you are a good man - you protect the public." The next morning
the barber found a dozen doughnuts at the door to his shop. A lawyer
came to the barber for a haircut, and again the barber refused payment
saying, "I cannot accept money from you, for you are a good man
- you serve the justice system." The next morning the barber found
a dozen more lawyers waiting for a haircut.
Did
you hear that the Post Office just recalled their latest stamps?
They had pictures of lawyers on them ... and people couldn't figure
out which side to spit on.
How
can a pregnant woman tell that she's carrying a future lawyer? She
has an uncontrollable craving for baloney.
How
does an attorney sleep? First he lies on one side, then he lies
on the other.
How
many lawyer jokes are there? Only three. The rest are true stories.
How
many lawyers does it take to change a light bulb? How many can you
afford?
How
many lawyers does it take to screw in a light bulb? Three. One to
climb the ladder. One to shake it. And one to sue the ladder company.
What
do you call a lawyer gone bad? Senator.
What
do you call a lawyer with an IQ of 50? Your Honor.
What
do you get when you cross a bad politician with a crooked lawyer?
Chelsea Clinton.
What's
the difference between a lawyer and a vulture? The lawyer gets frequent
flyer miles.
What's
the difference between God and a lawyer? God doesn't think he's
a lawyer.
Mark
Anthony Cristini was so much more than a lawyer. Now that you're
smiling, drop by here and say a little prayer,
http://harrywebber.com/memories.html
Stay
Tuned.
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MARKETERS
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MADISON AVENEW:
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& MATHER
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THE MARTIN AGENCY
TBWA CHAIT/DAY
GSD&M
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McCANN-ERICKSON
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PUBLICIS
FOOTE,CONE,BELDING
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HILL, HOLIDAY
LANDOR ASSOCIATES
MODEM MEDIA
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DAVID & GOLIATH
LOWE LINTAS
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INTERPUBLIC
GROUP OF COS
SULLIVAN, HIGDON & SINK
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ASSOCIATES
BBDO NY
SAATCHI AND SAATCH
FLEISHMAN HILLIARD
LTC/GSD&M
WONG DOODY
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PARTNERS
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DDB NEEDHAM
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ZENTROPHY
HILL & KNOWLTON
ADRANTS
NEW YORK TIMES
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BRANDWEEK
ADWEEK
LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL
DOW JONES
LEXIS-NEXIS
COX NEWSPAPERS
PUBLIC INTEREST NETWORK
MONSTER WORLDWIDE
HOUGHTON
MIFFIN COMPANY
REUTERS INFORMATION
CMP PUBLICATIONS, INC.
BANK
OF AMERICA
NATIONSBANK
THE PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL GROUP
INDYMAC BANCORP
GUARDIAN LIFE INSURANCE
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DEAN WITTER
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MUTUAL LIFE OF CANADA
MUTUAL OF OMAHA
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GENERAL MOTORS
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NISSAN NORTH AMERICA
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MOTORS CORP
MICROSOFT CORP
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THE LIMITED, INC.
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CO.
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DISNEY WORLDWIDE SERVICES,
INTERNATIONAL CREATIVE MANAGEMENT
CAA
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TICKETMASTER
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ALLTEL CORP
EARTHLINK, INC
ALLTEL INFORMATION SERVICES
TIME WARNER TELECOM
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ALLEGIANCE TELECOM
INTERNET ALLEGIANCE, INC.
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GLOBAL CROSSINGS
UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE
NASA
PORT AUTHORITY OF NY NJ
DELTA
AIR LINES
S.C. JOHNSON WAX
MERCK & CO.
KAISER PERMIANENTE
CANADIAN MENTAL HEALTH ASSN
STARBUCKS COFFEE CO
THE PROCTER AND GAMBLE
COMPANY
SCHERING-PLOUGH CORP.
DR PEPPER/SEVEN UP
RCN CORPORATION
HOTJOBS.COM
PFIZER
IKEA NA SERVICES
TISHMAN SPEYER PROPERTIES
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You.
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