REICH COMMUNICATIONS

Some questions about Online Ads

Digital ads have been touted for years as "the next best thing."  Proponents say the ads can be extremely tightly targeted, based  on tracking consumers' online behavior.

It sounds great, but I don't think it's all it's cracked up to be... at least, not yet. There seem to be two major weaknesses with digital advertising.

The first question is: How accurate is behavioral targeting?  If you believe the hype, every click and keystroke we make online is tracked and analyzed so marketers can send ads our way that relate to our interests and purchasing behavior.  There's very little waste. It sounds too good to be true. 

But does it really work that way?  Not at all, according to Advertising Age reporter Matthew Creamer, who writes in this week's special Digital Issue about two full days he spent surfing the web and tracking every online ad that came onto his screen. 

"After two days of watching what ads I got while wandering around the web," he writes, "I concluded that advertisers don't really know that much about me...There's a big gulf between how online advertising is talked about and how it's experienced."

He went on to write he was "served course and after course of ads that felt generally irrelevant and untargeted, and not only did nothing to stoke consumer demand, but possibly smothered it."   He added that he didn't feel "the (marketing) crosshairs on me any more than when I watch an average primetime TV commercial break."

Not exactly a ringing endorsement for behavioral marketing online.

The second key question about online advertising is: What impact do online ads really have?

Writing about his two days of online surfing, Creamer says, "All but the most garrish, interruptive online ads probably fly right by you.  Odds are you don't click on them or notice them or share them or talk about them around the watercooler."

His take mirrors my own experience with online ads, and many friends I've spoken with say the same thing.  The ads on the computer screen become just part of the background clutter, hardly noticed and very rarely clicked.  Pop-ups become an annoyance that you quickly click away, much like you'd swat away a pesky fly.

Digital is too big for marketers to ignore; that's for sure.  But we haven't yet found the formula for making online ads impactful and memorable, and there's still a lot more work to be done on the effectiveness of behavioral targeting. 

I'm sure the industry will get there, but we're not there yet.

 

 

Media Relations Tips... This should be obvious

I just opened today's online issue of PR Daily and clicked on a story titled "5 bad PR practices that will frustrate journalists."  Even after 35 years in this business, I figure I can always learn something.

So here are the 5 tips...

1.  No one home.  Sending a release out and not having someone ready and available to talk to a reporter about it.

2.  Spinning the news.  I hate the word spin.  But this tip is telling us not to try to hide bad news by burying it in the midst of good news.  Reporters aren't stupid.

3.  Flat-out lying.  I'll say it again... reporters aren't stupid.  Lie once and you'll never get their attention again...rightfully so.

4.  No homework.  This tip refers to checking to see if your story idea has already been used.  It's not always easy, but it's our responsibility to know what's being reported in the media we are targeting. 

5.  Sly pitching.  This tip refers to sending the same pitch to more than reporter at the same media outlet.  If tight timing doesn't permit sending a pitch to one at a time, then you should clearly indicate that you are sending to others at the outlet, by saying so or clearly indicating in the cc: line of your email.

All good tips, but here's the sad thing --

Shouldn't any PR person with more than a month of experience already know these basics?  One would think so, but I am willing to bet there are many people at agencies who just don't know this stuff.  They haven't been trained or, worse yet, they've been shown the ropes by a hack who regularly ignores these common sense rules.

So while the 5 tips seem painfully basic and obvious, I suppose they may not be to some and thus bear repeating.

 

 

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Never forget...

 

 

 

Never again!

In marketing, Honesty trumps all

Most people don't like to be fooled.  Marketers -- and their public relations advisors -- should always try to remember that.

When a company tries to trick people in hopes of selling product, it can be a recipe for disaster.  The folks at ConAgra were caught off guard recently when a trick they tried to play backfired.  Here's how it unfolded...

According to a story in The New York Times, a group of food bloggers and mommy bloggers were invited to a West Village brownstone restaurant supposedly run by celebrity chef George Duran, who hosts "Celebrity Cake-Off" on cable's TLC channel.

The bloggers in attendance got a surprise at the end of the evening.  They were told, after dinner, that the lasagna they thought had been prepared by Chef Duran was actually a frozen meat and cheese lasagna from ConAgra's Marie Callendar product line.  The unuspecting bloggers got another surprise when they were told their comments as they tried the faux-chef-prepared food had been taped by hidden cameras for possible PR and advertising use.

Hidden cameras are nothing new.  They are often used in ads where shoppers are stopped in a supermarket and asked aqbout a product.  And Allen Funt made a nice living from fooling people with hidden cameras on his "Candid Camera" TV show decades ago.  And more recently, shows like "Punkd" catch celebs and semi-celebs in gags played out in front of hidden cameras.

The hidden-camera testimonials obviously use segments that are favorable to the product.  On the cutting room floor are clips showing an unsuspecting person getting annoyed for being fooled or simply refusing to go for the money being offered in exchange for the unintended testimonial.

People generally don't like to be fooled.  Imagine a group of bloggers attending an event expecting one thing and then being fed -- literally -- something totally different.  They've taken their time expecting to review a fine dining experience, and then they learn they are being played to shill for a frozen food product. 

This group of people who were tricked was not just a group of ordinary people.  They are journalists with, in some cases, very big or influential bullhorns.  And they let their displeasure with ConAgra's trickery go full-blast on their blog sites.

The blog Mom Confessionals wrote about the event, saying "Our entire meal was a SHAM.  We were unwilling participants in a bait & switch...and there were cameras watching our reactions."

FoodMayhem.com wrote about the hypocracy of the host having a pre-dinner discussion session with talk about problems with artificial ingredients.  "We discussed the sad state of chemical-filled foods," the blogger wrote, "and yet (they) fed me the exact thing I had said I did not want to eat."

Many bloggers who had been tricked wrote negative posts, going so far as to list all the chemical ingredients in the food, or citing things like the high amount of sodium in the product.

The reaction should not have come as a surprise to ConAgra and their big PR agency.  A cute PR stunt like this is an open invitation for disaster.  People -- especially those with a platform -- don't like to be fooled. 

A cardinal rule in Public Relations is Be Honest; Don't Lie.  And especially don't lie to a journalist.

It's just PR 101, isn't it? 

 

Weekend Thoughts ... A Message from Delia

My daughter Jennifer lost her best pal yesterday morning.  We knew it was coming, but it's never easy to lose a dear friend and a member of the family.

I last saw Delia three weeks ago, on a visit to Jennifer and her family up in Maine.  We had taken her to the beach and she frolicked in the water as if she were still a youngster.  She had a big smile on her face.  She was happy.

Before I got into the car to return home to New York, I went back inside the house to give Delia a kiss and, just in case I wouldn't see her again, I thanked her for her years of friendship to Jen and her family.  She kissed me back and looked into my eyes.  Although she didn't speak, she told me something that I wrote down as soon as I got home.

I sent Delia's message to my daughter last night....

 

 

Please don’t be sad.

You’ve given me the best life any pup could hope for.  It’s been a life filled with lots of food and treats, belly rubs and pats on my fuzzy head, playing ball and swimming and walks in the woods, and sleeping on comfortable beds, couches and special spots on the floor.

Best of all, I’ve always had a life filled with your unending love and affection, respect and attention.

Yes, some of that attention was diminished six years ago when you had Jack and then when Gabriel came along two years ago.  I’ll admit, I may have had a bit of attitude the first time, but as I matured, I realized how happy those boys make you… and I am happy for anything that makes you happy.

I remember all the good times, starting from when you brought me home in Oregon.  I remember my friends like Luna and Buster and, of course, my surrogate pup Loki.  I was there when he came home, and all of him was just as big as my fuzzy head.

And then, after a stop in New York for a few months, where I got to know Gram and Pop even better, you brought me to Maine where there was water everywhere.  Living by the lake was a great place to spend a year, followed by that awesome spot right up the dirt road from not one, but two beaches and giant lawns perfect for running and rolling.  Even after we moved to our present house, you still took me to beaches at Harpswell and Popham.  It was always fun, and it made me even happier inside to see how you smiled as I jumped in the waves and chased sticks non-stop in the water.

There were a few bumps, but you helped me past them.  That airplane ride from out west to New York was not fun.  And my unexpected meeting with a porcupine was pretty bad… much worse than getting skunked.  But you were there to hold me and calm me, and I tried to show you with tail wags and licks that I was ok.

I am still ok, except now, instead of you watching over me, my role is to watch over you.  And now I can tell you something that I suspect you’ve always felt.  Some dogs do have souls, and I’m one of the lucky ones.

So I will always be looking over you, trying to keep you happy and safe and secure.  You’ll smile sometimes, and whether you realize it or not, it will be because my soul has wagged its tail for you.  

And when you’re ready for the companionship of another pup in your life, please understand that I’ll be fine with it.  I know he or she won’t be a replacement for me, but rather a tribute to the wonderful friendship we’ve had.  I will be happy for you.

So don’t be sad.  My wags and licks and fuzziness and sweetness are indelibly locked in your mind, and all you have to do is remember and those things will be there for you.

And a very long long time from now, when you are ready to end your life journey, I will be there waiting to welcome you with wags and licks.  But don’t rush – I’m a dog and I have lots of patience…knowing we will see each other again.

With Love and Devotion always,

   D

your Sweet Delia D

 

September 2, 2011