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Four smartly-positioned agencies

You're going to hear a lot about Adam Ferguson over the next few days. He's been filling my inbox with all sorts of interesting tidbits that just demand to be blogged about.

Let's start with this little number from AdAge last week: "Six Ways Ad Agencies Are Reeling in New Business Now "

#3 ADOPT A RECOGNIZABLE PLATFORM Agency-positioning efforts such as Kevin Roberts' "Lovemarks" platform at Saatchi may not be new, but they really can work. One of the more recent platforms to emerge is Publicis Groupe's "Contagious Ideas," which rolled out across the globe a year ago and quickly gained momentum. Existing clients have embraced it and entrusted the company with additional business, and it has attracted new clients across the network. "It's not just some abstract theory," said Mark Hider, exec VP-director of engagement strategy for Publicis USA. "There is a conversation going on about brands whether we like it or not," and the key is to "monetize brand conversations, and then alter them in your favor."

Smart idea. Increasingly, our clients - and our potential clients - need to justify their budgets and their decision making to senior leadership. They need an easy way to say why this company / why now / what the impact will be.

What's more - they're up against incredible pressure to produce. To do things in innovative ways that deliver previously-unrealized results. They need the hope of a new, big idea.

An agency position founded in a provocative, relevant point of view is absolutely one way to deliver on both.

Four agencies that are already there:

Cult Marketing creates Cult Customers: This savvy, growing firm outside Columbus hinges their story on connecting with the very customers who are driving the word-of-mouse and word-of-mouth trends we're all chasing. They start with insights but drive every project on ROI.

Sullivan Higdon & Sink in Kansas City delivers men. Yeah, yeah, we've heard over and over how 80% of purchases are influenced by women, but these guy-knowing creatives take on the products that need that shot of masculine purchasing power. These are "Men who buy engagement rings. Men who go camping and fly fishing. Men who run companies. Men who grill steaks and fry turkeys. Men who purchase industrial engines. Men who dig Star Wars."

Cow: I am forever a fan of this London-based agency of the year.  Their POV: If you aren't news, make news. These provocateurs will do whatever it takes to get "get bums on seats, people through the door, products off the shelves and people thinking about your brand in new ways." Their claims to fame: "We’re the agency that got baked beans on the front pages of the papers, created the world’s most expensive burger and developed sausage and mash ice cream style cones and vans."

22Squared: This Atlanta/Tampa agency gets that branding isn't communication, it's behavior. And, they show their formula for connection through a crafty little framework called the friendship factor.

Recession fallout: Good and Time leverage digital to stay alive

You've heard, I'm sure, that Domino and WonderTime have shuttered their doors. A real loss of a bold aesthetic and brave approach, respectively.

They fell to the same shocks hitting the rest of the publishing industry: fractured media habits among core readers; reduced ad spending; increased distribution costs; etc.

This month, two other publishing innovators handled the industry-wide challenges in really different ways:

Good: Powerful content for the digital space

If you don't know Good - I'm happy you're reading this. It's a chance for me to introduce you to your next favorite thing. The visual appeal of Real Simple; the smart voice of Fast Company; the heady ideas of Seed. All in one even-better tome.

Unfortunately, Good is trimming its paper for the times. This mini issue was delivered this month. "The Recession Issue" features 80% less printed content and an announcement that the publishing schedule will be migrating from monthly to quarterly.

Ouch.

The "Good" news: The content isn't slowing down. It's just moving. To Good's digital space. Normally, this would be a scary proposition. But, Good is so provocative, so visual - it's better than ever. Check it out. You'll get addicted.

Time: Aggregating a house of brands

So how do you leverage a big operational elephant in lean times? Time is doing it with personalization. The publisher is pulling together its news, sports and lifestyle publications into one aggregator that lets readers completely customize their ideal multi-interest magazine.

Visitors pick up to five Time titles they'd like to read content from. Time builds that content into one personal book that can be delivered online or in mailbox. Pretty cool.

Questions people always ask me: Why don't I get paid for this?

Every now and again, I get talked into a speaking engagement about blogging. Why I do it. How to connect with me. Where the ideas come from. 

And, the inevitable embarrassed question: How much money do I make doing it?

Honestly, I don't. Sure, I understand how to monetize a blog. My friend David is not only a total champ at it - he even gives incredibly clear advice on how to do it.

But, it's not for me. I've even turned off the Google ads on my blog (something about passively pimping Ann Coulter's new book was a little uncomfortable for me).

Why? Three reasons:

• First up: I owe you. I started this blog when my career took me from technology marketing to retail advertising. I was - in a word - lost. There was a lot to learn and few resources to learn it. The books were all theory and all out of date; my boss was busy with other things; my other mentors were out-of-category.
  
  Instead: I had you. This group of like-minded people who have turned into the most amazing network of collaborative idea generators.
  
  I started by collecting. By listening to what you were talking about and highlighting the work that stood out. You helped me "get" this; helped me develop a POV.
  
  Sure, now, I sit comfortably on this soapbox and type away about whatever idea that strikes me. But, I know how I got here.

• Second: I get other benefits. I've got an amazing job. Yeah, it's beating me up right now - with too much work and too much stress. But, that's temporary. Product of the recession.
  
  In the time before Wall Street blew it, this gig gave me the opportunity to work with some of the smartest, most savvy people in the Midwest and to learn things I would have never had access to elsewhere. I got that job because of this blog. The creative director at Ologie happened to read it and thought I would be a good fit. I ended up meeting the COO for coffee and tried not to squeal with delight when he eventually offered me a job. I never thought I'd end up there - easily the most-respected agency in town.
  
  That's one of the benefits - a reputation that precedes me. Or, really, a way for people to get to know me, to connect with me long before we meet in person.
  
  And, having the network to call on if I ever need help - finding an opportunity for me, a job for a friend, a solution to a particuarly sticky conundrum. Heck, even a used laptop when I need one!

• Third: I've already got a job - complete with deadlines and editors. 
  
  Funding means expectations. Deals with devilish details. I'm all-too-happy to just type when I feel like typing. Say what I feel like saying. Wander off when life offline gets to be just too much to balance.
  
  For me, blogging is something I love to do. I don't want it to become just another obligation.

What about Duke?

Happy St. Patrick's Day, readers. And, Merry March Madness.

Back when I worked as a full-fledged suit at a retail shop, I worried a lot about small talk. CMOs want to talk about the big weekend game; CEOs want to predict the winner of the next one.

Me? I don't have an ounce of sports fan in me. I'm lucky if I know for sure what sports season it is, let alone what playoff is approaching and who is expected to dominate it. I keep the local sports teams calendars on my wall as little more than a traffic advisory.

When you work in a Big Ten town, this is not an ideal situation. So, I was always looking for the headline, the soundbite, anything to get the sports small talk rolling so smoothly that I could happily just nod my agreement.

(As one of the resident wonks at my current shop clients expect me to be bookish and pop culture averse :)  No one cares that I don't wear red (scarlet) on Fridays or quote scores over lunch.)

Still, I love the soundbites. The little nuggets that incite fans to passion.

Neil - the cool partner at that retail shop - used to give me a few good ones every now and again.

His universal:

What about Duke?

Apparently Coach K and his team are always somewhat provocative. It's a safe starting point if you don't know the alliances of the people in the room.

I've used that one a lot. It actually works.

So, I was thrilled to check my Facebook wall and find his this-season advice for March Madness:

Who do you like in the Big East? Apparently the powerhouse division this year.

I asked Neil that very Q. Here's an answer. If you go this deep, though, you better be able to back it up:

How can you not love Syracuse? 6 OTs against UConn. Playing against Louisville for the Championship! Go Orangemen!

Happy tournament, people. Fill out those brackets.

Dear Lays, Pushup bra jokes...

Are so Funny Bone circa 2005.

Ask any marketer: Talking to women in an authentic way isn't easy.

First up: there are a lot of us. More than half the population. That's a whopper of a demo to pigeon into a clever campaign.

But, many have tried. Making everything pink. Nodding at how much men suck. Empathizing over the approaching horror of bikini season.

Most of the time, it just misses. More noise in a crowded landscape. But sometimes, it's just off putting. Especially when it comes from brands that should know better.

Think: the Motrin Moms debacle earlier this year.

And, now, think Lays.

Their new Baked line packaging is being supported with a huge ad and online investment in connecting with women. They've bought full pods on cable; produced a series of webisodes; bought into the most expensive magazines.

All for a chance to make menopause-makes-me-hot jokes and pushup-bras-are-my-favorite technology references:

It's mostly just disappointing. The thought that the agency that developed this - and the client that approved it - believes that women are really united over our shared love of yoga and disgust for our younger, hotter counterparts is ... gross.

The next time you get a brief targeting women, I suggest:

• Asking which women? Do you really need to resonate with half the population?
• Searching for a unique, and near universal insight. They're called cliches for a reason.
• Looking for connection around our "best selves"; not our guilty pleasures
• Excising pink from the pallet

Dogears: Good stuff I'm reading tonight

Graphic Statement reviews Puma's mobile concept store. Anyone remember the Ashes and Snow exhibit? Clever translation of art to work here.

Fab little brand framework tucked into Adaptive Path's interview with Josh Levine

The Economist calls us Facebook Primates (The Economist is on Facebook? That's like everybody's Dad friending them at once)

The New York Times' Freakonomics Forum thinks Paypal may save the newspaper: What Would Micropayments Do for Journalism?

Advergirl fave Brian Morrissey of Adweek looks at the future of Influencer Programs.

Marketing Vox reports that the average American spent 75 hours online in January. Dude, I've been online 75 hours this week :)

Delightful friends at Plaid take a fresh look at the Great Orange Juice Debacle of 2009 with Congrats! The public hates your design. Now what?

Savvy Bud Caddell at UnderCurrent gets fan focused in a presentation called The Fan Economy 2009.

Technology in Marketing pulls the veil from Twitter to reveal who's really using it. The secret: we're middle aged city dwellers who are addicted to our cell phones. I'll pause while you regroup from the shock.

Can someone tell Citibank to stop spending my tax dollars on INANE FEELGOOD ADS??? Bob Gilbreath, my-favorite-boss-I-never-had, is on the case at Marketing with Meaning.

Brand Camp nails the paradox of choice in yet another clever comic.

Work inspired by a certain world view

I was recently chatting with a friend about the impact our media consumption can have on our worldview. How it can change how we approach shared culture; whether we're fundamentally hopeful or cynical, etc. In the simplest form - consider the difference in perspective (not opinion) between someone who consumes (exclusively) Rush Limbaugh and the National Review vs. the Daily Show and Headline News vs. the New York Times and NPR. From those extreme vantages, the world is a vastly different place.

I mention it here because I found myself preaching the gospel of Alan Wolk's NASCAR Blindness today and started to think about how many of my professional blind spots and unusual assumptions are directly related to the media I consume - to the selective culture that builds my worldview.

The big question: For people in our industry, is it responsible to let our personal choice drive our media choice? Or do we owe it to our clients to intentionally, daily go broader.

Top 10 Media / Cultural Connections that shape my personal view:

1. NPR news
2. New York Times - particulary the magazine
3. Contemporary fiction - particularly Irving, Cunningham, DFW and Palahniuk
4. Local art - particulary CCAD, Comfest and Available Light Theater
5. This American Life
6. Ted
7. The Moth
8. Blogs - particicularly Element 22, Quipsologies, News from the Herd and The Social Path
9. Bravo
10. The Daily Show

How that list would change if I wanted my work to reflect a more diverse experience:

1. Network news
2. Chicago Tribune
3. Womens magazines - particularly Oprah, Rachael Ray and Redbook
4. Pop culture - particularly American Idol, contemporary music and the WB
5. Sports Center
6. 20/20
7. Popular fiction - Picoult, Gilbert and Lamb
8. Blogs - particularly especially the Huffington Post, Boing Boing, Perez Hilton
9. Bravo
   
10. The Daily Show
    

Hmmm. Where to go from here?

10 (other) compelling, authentic brands

My boss sometimes tells the story of Dr. Colley, a famous surgeon who author Jim Belasco followed on rounds. One day, en route to the operating room, Belasco saw the surgeon stop to talk to a man mopping the hallway. The surgeon and janitor conversed for nearly 10 minutes before Cooley dashed into the operating room. Curiosity raised, Belasco commented, "That was a long conversation." Then he asked, "What do you do in the hospital?"

The janitor replied, "We save lives."

THAT is a compelling brand.

One that is both embraced and breaks through. One that feels genuine from almost any voice.

You know these brands: Apple. Nordstrom. Zappos. Target. Ug. Hell, Uggs. Their brand stories have been told again and again until they've become both the unattainable pillars of legend and little more than background noise.

What does it take to deliver a brand that compelling?

It should be:

1. Meaningful. The simple, perfect words that hit you in the gut with connection and value.
2. Repeateable. In 2009, if people can't pass it on, it might as well not exist
3. Embraced. Thoughout all levels of the organization. And, within the core customer base.

What other brands are doing it just as well as those category leaders? Here are 10 more stories to tell:

1. United Way: Give. Advocate. Volunteer. Pillars that hold up as well in a board room as they do in a gay pride parade as they do in the aftermath of a disaster.
2. Ted: Ideas worth passing on. It's the heart of the brand and embodied in everything it touches.
3. MINI: In the tent, in the car, all for fun. That clan of effusive motorers finds joy in everything.
4. Anthropolgie: For every ecclectic who lives for the details and the romance of craft, we give you an inspiring place to shop. 
5. The Peninsula: Personal luxury. A new legend borne of the details.
6. Montreal: THE Creative City.
7. W&K: Where creative's create. A place that is all about the work. The wicked sweet work.
8. Progressive: A "we get you" brand that does the work for you. Grounded in a word all of America would connect with their name: compare
9. Tylenol: The old guard that has always made the right calls, reinvigorated by the Feel Better campaign and story
10. Pedigree. You know it. You've probably said it. We're for dogs.