REICH COMMUNICATIONS

Ads We Like - Kohler

 

I just came across this ad in the June issue of Wired and it caught my eye.

I love the clever simplicity, using subtle humor to get across the ad's message - Behold the Future.

The Spa at Lavender Lane

That's the name of the book by my friend Phyllis Melhado, just signed to be published next May in time for beach reading.

Congrats to you Phyllis.  Can't wait to read the book next spring.  More at www.phyllismelhado.com

We go back to the days of L'eggs eggs and Krylon spray.

What We Do: Road Buzz

The latest issue of Road Buzz, the newsletter of the National Road Safety Foundation, just went online. 

This issue gives an overview of the many activities and projects we do with and for the Foundation, our client.  Lots of activities to engage young people in learning about and practicing safe driving behavior, like contests we do nationally (with Scholastic) and regionally with major auto shows.

Click here to link to the newsletter.

We partner with organizations including the National Safety Council and the Governors Highway Safety Association, as well as groups aimed at young people, like SADD and FCCLA. 

We also work with groups that reach parents, teachers and police, which is why I'm on my way tonight to Columbus, Ohio to represent the Foundation at the PTA's National Leadership Conference.  From there, I head south to Pigeon Forge, Tenn, probably best known as the birthplace of Dolly Parton and the location of Dollywood.  I'll be there representing the Foundation at the NASRO Conference, comprised of school resource officers -- police -- who work in the classroom.

I love doing this work and representing the National Road Safety Foundation at these important meetings.  I feel like I'm helping make a difference, and that's a really good feeling.

 

A New York Icon

 

I just walked through the lobby of the Chrysler Building, on my way back from a meeting.  I could have walked alongside it on Lexington Avenue, as I usually do every day on my way to and from work.  But I decided to walk through the lobby, just for a change.

I'm so glad I did.  I've been in that lobby many times, but the beauty of it really struck me today.

As you can see from these pictures, it's the epitome of art deco.  So is the outside of the building, with its gargoyles looking down on us pedestrians as we scurry by 31 stories below, along with eagles up on the 61st floor.

With its magnificent spire, the Chrysler Building has been an integral part of New York's unique skyline since it was completed in 1930.  It continues to stand out, especially as many of the newer skyscrapers go up with boring and uninspiring facades.

Even after almost 90 years, the Chrysler Building is part of what makes New York special.

One of the Perfect Days in NY City

We had a rainy start, but today turned out to be one of the perfect days here in New York ... warm, but not hot.  Low humidity and a refreshing breeze... all under clear blue skies.

Beautiful.  One of those days that makes it easy to love New York.

We Remember, With Thanks

With thanks to all who served, and especially those who remain in Normandy.

In the words of a 96 year-old vet who was there and returned this week for the first time after 75 years...   "Freedom is never free."

New York: Broadway is Booming

 

Broadway set a new box office record, as the 2018-2019 season just ended. 

Nearly 15 million seats were sold, bringing in $1.83 billion -- up more than 10 percent from last year.  Only nine years ago, ticket sales hit $1 billion for the first time.  

Ticket prices have gone up a lot, but you can still find relative bargains online or at one of the TKTS booths.  Regardless of price, there's just nothing like live theater.  And seeing a show in New York -- in one of the spectacular old theaters, with fantastic set design and great staging, is like nothing else.  Going to a show in the theater district is exciting -- even for us jaded New Yorkers -- walking to and from the theater, with streets filled lined with theaters and filled with theater-goers.

Some of the shows we've seen this past season include the musicals Prom, The Cher Show and Wicked, as well as plays Network (Brian Cranston was amazing) and The Waverly Gallery (great performances by Elaine May and Lucas Hedges).

Haven't seen Hamilton yet.  We could have seen it in previews a few years ago for about $79/ticket, but I said back then, "Why would I want to see a play written to rap."  OK, I was really wrong on that one, and now tickets go for hundreds, IF you can even get them.

We just got tickets for Tina - The Tina Turner Musical, which opens in October.

Coming to New York?  Make sure to see a show on Broadway.

 

What We Do: The Christopher Awards

 

Thursday evening is the 70th annual Christopher Awards, honoring the creators of books, films and TV that tell stories of people doing good.

It's not about the best-seller list or box office or TV ratings. Instead, the Awards are about encouraging people to do whatever they can, in ways big or small, to make our world a better place.

Honorees this year range from Mark Wahlberg's film about foster parenting, "Instant Family," to the Mr. Rogers documentary, "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" to the 886-page book by David Blight about slave-turned-abolitionist/author and journalist Frederick Douglass.

We've been knocking on doors to get advance publicity on the winners in papers, on radio, TV and online.  Tomorrow the awards will be presented.  It's always an inspiring evening. 

More to come in this space after the awards.

 

The Upfronts: Paying More for Less

 

It’s a ritual of late spring…the upfront TV marketplace.

Every year, the networks (and in recent years, major ad-supported cable channels) present their fall programming to major advertisers and ad agencies here in New York.  They’re usually glitzy productions at major venues – this year at Radio City Music Hall, Lincoln Center, the Beacon Theater – with lots of star-power from the networks.

There’s a lot at stake.  It’s a chance for advertisers to buy ad time at better rates than if they waited until later in the year, when prices could be anywhere from 10 to 40 percent higher in what’s called the scatter market.

During the upfront period, the networks usually sell as much as 90 percent of their prime time ad availability. 

The numbers are big.  The major networks rake in around $9 billion as advertisers rush to grab up ad time.  When you add in the dozens of cable networks, from A+E to National Geographic Channel, the total take is close to $20 billion.  And it’s almost always a sellers’ market, since the ad buyers don’t want to get locked out.

For major advertisers, TV still offers something other media can’t – a big audience seeing ad messages pretty much at the same time, or in “real time” as the network ad salespeople say.  So even as the total TV audience continues to dip, ad rates appear to be going up again this year. 

Marketers are paying more for less, but FOMO (fear of missing out) still drives the upfront market.

Fact-Checking: A Real Challenge for the Media

 

Major media outlets do their best to get it right.  After all, their product is information and if is incorrect, its value diminishes.

Wayne Friedman, writing last week in MediaPost’s TV Watch, examines the problem media are having today with a president who is a serial tweeter.    

As we know, the Tweeter-in-Chief rarely seems to bother with facts or accuracy, often shooting from the hip about whatever is on his mind or whatever he just saw on FOX News.  The major media try to fact-check, but that becomes a daunting task when he can throw 20 – 60 tweets out in a morning.

Friedman reports that Media Matters of America examined more than 2,000 tweets posted by major media from Jan. 26 to Feb. 15 and found that 65 percent of those tweets did not fact-check, but simply reposted or included presidential tweets without indicating where they were false or erroneous.

More than half the time they just repeat what he has said without checking for accuracy, so it’s ironic that the president calls major media “fake news,” when they are simply repeating false information he puts out there.  

The Media Matters study showed that NPR did the best job of fact-checking.

The bottom line here is not to rely on tweets for news.