FBI MEMOS
Memos from the ad agency

When a big ad campaign get the rights to popular music, the song is usually about 20 - 30 years old, I think there are a couple of reasons for this. First, it’s cheaper. People who wrote songs that were big in the 70s that are irrelevant now have boat payments and college tuition for kids to worry about, and they are more likely to take what they can get for the songs they wrote that aren’t getting much airplay anymore. Also, people in charge of the campaigns — creative directors, chief marketing officers — are of the age where music from 20 - 30 years ago is right in their wheelhouse of fond memories.

Using this music is fine, providing the demographic you are going after is folks 35 - 55 or so. But you have to keep up with what the “kids” are into, and, more importantly, what the kids are not into. I was hanging out with a 27-year-old who works at a record company this weekend. Out of her mouth came this sentence, “I HATE the Eagles.” (She actually added a colorful descriptor between “the” and “Eagles” which I won’t repeat here.)

It never occurred to me that people could HATE the Eagles. Then I got to thinking about it. John Mellencamp to her is what Bill Haley and the Comets are to me. And Creedence to her is what Duke Ellington is to me. That point was further driven home with this snippet of conversation.

Me: “So, you were born under Reagan.”
Her: “Yep.”
Me: “Have you ever heard of Kennedy?”
Her: “I think I read about him in an Ancient History book.”

Ouch.

We have never licensed music for a commercial here at FBI. (Not that we haven’t tried on occasion, but when we have, budgets constraints got in the way.) So when music is needed, we record original music. Which, for us, is no big deal, after all, you can’t swing a dead cat in Nashville without hitting 10 musicians and 5 studios. But licensing music can be tricky, and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Remember, not everyone has fond memories of making out with a high school sweetheart to “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”

(This is the blog for Frank/Best International, a full service advertising, PR and multi media agency in Nashville, Tennessee where we make it a point to stay “hip with the kids.”)

Marketing 101 — have a unique selling proposition or USP. Tell the world why your product is different or better. “Less Filling!” “Gets Teeth 10 Times Whiter!” “Lowest Mileage in its Class!”

I saw a great one yesterday in the grocery store: “Healthier Than Homemade!” It was on the bags of ice.

At least they’re trying.

Some student in England, Nick Haley, made an ad for iPhone and put it on youtube. The folks at Apple’s ad agency, TBWA/Chiat/Day, saw it and contacted the student about remaking the video in a more professional manner. Now, in a dream-come-true scenario, the young man’s project is going to be seen by millions.

The commercial based on Mr. Haley’s spot will be seen on football games Sunday afternoon and on “Desperate Housewives” and Game 4 of the World Series that night. It is also to be shown in Europe and Japan.

As for how faithful the professional spot is to the amateur version, Mr. Clow (of TBWA/Chiat/Day) said, “we didn’t mess with his content” because “it has a charm to it, a youthful fun.”

The changes include more polished editing and filming the new version in high definition.

“My input was totally respected,” Mr. Haley said, adding that he considered the agency’s commercial “pretty similar” to the original.

What a feel-good story. Congratulations, young man. I’m sure you are quite, as you Brits say, chuffed.

However, my first reaction is ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!? TBWA/Chiat/Day is one of the biggest ad agencies on the planet. Apple is one of the biggest clients on the planet. They have creative directors, art directors, copywriters, associates, interns . . . and they lifted a concept from youtube?! For Apple?!?

The problem I have with it is that it’s just not that special. What’s the big deal about what Mr. Haley did? You folks at TBWA/Chiat/Day have millions of dollars tied up in salaries with creative people. You can’t come up with something better than that?

Hey! Steve Jobs! Looky here! There’s a mid-sized shop in Nashville that would love to have the iPhone account. We’ll come up with some killer creative on our own.

Sheesh.

(This is the blog for Frank/Best International, a creative ad agency with national and international clients located in Nashville, Tennessee. We have creative people and we generate our own creative content.)

Bobby Frank and I attended a seminar last night hosted by Athens Paper regarding sustainability issues and having a “Green” company. The main speaker was the guy who runs Mohawk Paper, (who’s name escapes me) a large paper manufacturing company in New York. It was good to see a group of people who have such an impact on the environment take such an interest in lowering that impact. For instance, Mohawk Paper makes everything with wind-generated power.

So what can you do in your daily life? Look for the Forest Stewardship Council seal when you buy paper. The Forest Stewardship Council certifies wood and wood products that are responsibly harvested and processed. Their goal is to shift the market to eliminate habitat destruction, water pollution, and displacement of indigenous peoples. Use of the FSC label must be arranged with an FSC-certified printer when using FSC-certified paper purchased through an FSC-certified merchant. For a list of FSC-certified merchants and printers, visit www.fscus.org.

(This is the blog for Frank/Best International, a Nashville based full-service Advertising, Multi Media and Public Relations Agency)

We are the agency for the Nashville Zoo. We did this spot.
If you don’t recognize the voices, they are Pete Weber and Terry Crisp, the voices of the Nashville Predators.

I have tickets to the Predators for tomorrow night. They are in a luxury box, which is befitting of my big-shot status. I am currently perusing through my rolodex, trying to find someone worthy of such a big-shot evening. I had a “date” with a certain 20-something blogging hottie, but she backed out. She was going to be my arm candy.

Just trying to perpetuate the ad agency executive stereotype here.

There is in interesting article in Ad Age about search engine marketing (SEM). We talk about that a lot around here. In fact, we have a division here at FBI that is solely devoted to search engine optimization (SEO), called Work Media. I have really gotten schooled by the Work brothers about just how this type of marketing is taking off. Companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on SEM, SEO and Pay Per Click (PPC). And it is typical of the way all new and emerging trends happen, the nimble companies jump right on it, and the lumbering giants wait and see.

Well, these days, if you wait and see, you’re likely to see your competitors leaving you behind.

I sent a “cold call” email to a prospective client today, eloquently explaining to him how we could possibly be the perfect ad agency for his company. This was his response:

“Thank you for your interest!! We have no need!!”

Double exclaimation points!!

That cracked me up.