Category: Uncategorized

Advertising Post-Election

Disclosure first: I sell advertising for a living. It’s in my best interest to believe everything I’m about to write — and to convince you.

At 6am on Wednesday, November 5, I believe it anyway.

Last night on CNN, I watched John McCain deliver a gracious and respectful concession speech. I saw Barack Obama deliver an address that hit all the right notes, to 200,000 happy people in Chicago. I saw crowds dancing in the streets of Harlem… Times Square… and outside the White House. I heard fireworks going off outside my house. I talked to a lifelong Republican who told me that the guy who won deserved to win.

And for the first time in a long time, I felt optimism, and sensed it in other people.

For the last few months, and especially the last few weeks, consumers have been sitting on their wallets. If you’re in the car business… the real estate business… if you sell furniture, gutters, or windows, you’ve felt the effects. For the last few months, all the news has been bad news.

  • This morning, there’s a sense that the system worked. A winner was declared quickly and decisively, with no hanging chads or Supreme Court challenges.
  • President Bush announced that he would assist in the transition, and would leave office as scheduled on January 20. A grateful nation offered to help him pack.
  • Whether we agree or disagree with the result, we now know who’s going to be in charge, and can begin to move forward.
  • The political advertising — so ridiculous and angry that it may have caused listeners and viewers to tune everything out — is gone.
  • The possibility exists this morning that maybe… just maybe… the new guy is smart enough to lead us out of this mess.

All of this may very well cause consumers to start shopping again. Not in 2006-2007 numbers: the economic problems are too deep for that. But a significant number of people who’ve put purchases off may be ready to spend again.

Which may make this a great time for you to get your message back on the air.

Maybe I’m wrong — if you think so, feel free to leave a comment below and tell me so.

But if you’re in the Portland area and think I’m right, and you see the opportunity I see, give me a call at 503-323-6553, and let’s talk strategy.

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Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of Phil Bernstein’s white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call Phil Bernstein at 503-323-6553.

Turn on Your Radio Tomorrow

Wednesday, November 5 is the first full day without political advertising.

  • No more “Gordon Smith voted to confiscate money from widows and orphans nine times!”
  • No more “Jeff Merkley likes to drown kittens! And he hates our troops!”

I’m paraphrasing from memory, of course. It may be Smith who drowns kittens, and Merkley who rips off widows — it’s all a blur today.

Which illustrates the reason political advertising makes my profession look bad. It violates everything I try to teach my customers — starting with the fact that while you’re allowed to put the truth in the best possible light, it’s really bad form to lie. About your own company, or about your competitors.

The day after Election Day is my favorite day of the year.

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Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of Phil Bernstein’s white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call Phil Bernstein at 503-323-6553.

The Knitting Curmudgeon Flies Off the Handle

My wife, who knits, tipped me off to a lovely little dispute in the world of knitting blogs. It’s been resolved [UPDATE: the original resolution has since been reversed. See below], but since I’ll do just about anything to generate weekend traffic, I thought I’d stir it up again here.

The short version is that a blog called The Knitting Curmudgeon has, for years, used the subhead “Shut Up, I’m Counting”. Last year, another knitter started a blog called “Shut Up, I’m Counting.”

Ms. Curmudgeon found out about this, and very publicly called the newer blogger out — accusing her of copyright violation and threatening legal action. She later admitted to over-reacting, but this would appear to be an understatement. Especially since the US Copyright office has this to say on the issue:

Names, titles, and short phrases or expressions are not subject to copyright protection. Even if a name, title, or short phrase is novel or distinctive or if it lends itself to a play on words, it cannot be protected by copyright. The Copyright Office cannot register claims to exclusive rights in brief combinations of words such as:

  • Names of products or services
  • Names of businesses, organizations, or groups (including the name of a group of performers)
  • Names of pseudonyms of individuals (including pen name or stage name)
  • Titles of works
  • Catchwords, catchphrases, mottoes, slogans, or short advertising expressions
  • Mere listings of ingredients, as in recipes, labels, or formulas. When a recipe or formula is accompanied by explanation or directions, the text directions may be copyrightable, but the recipe or formula itself remains uncopyrightable.

It appears to me that not only was Ms. Curmudgeon way-beyond-justifiably-cranky (she might have at least asked a few questions before accusing a complete stranger of kidnapping the Lindbergh baby) — she was also legally in the wrong.

On the other hand, I never went to law school. So I’m asking — did The Knitting Curmudgeon have any case at all, copyright-wise?

Thoughts? Comments? Bring ’em on!

UPDATE 9/6/08, 2:35pm Pacific: All rights reserved, all wrongs reversed. Miz Curmudgeon has apologized to Miz Shut Up I’m Counting, and has removed her original diatribe from her blog. Miz Shut Up I’m Counting, who had originally agreed to change the name of her blog, has now decided to keep it just the way it was.

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Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of my white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call me at 503-323-6553.

Advertising Rule Of The Day: Get The Details Right

A couple of weeks ago a Portland radio station ran commercials for four straight days for an auto dealer — and got the name of the store wrong. This past weekend, another Portland radio station ran an entire weekend’s worth of commercials for a financial advisor — with incorrect contact information.

The good news, from my perspective, is that neither I nor my stations were involved in either campaign, and I got to be the one who pointed the mistakes out to the clients. But I can still remember the day several years ago that a remodeler called to say he’d appreciate it if we got his phone number right the next time we recorded a commercial for him.

The lesson, for all of us — read it before you record it. Listen to it before you air it. As the carpenters say, measure twice, cut once.

Details matter.

 

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Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of my white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call me at 503-323-6553.

Great Reason for a Sale

In Influence, the Science of Persuasion, Robert Cialdini cites experiments demonstrating that people are more likely to comply with your request if you give a reason. The reason doesn’t even have to make much sense. Copywriting instructors have incorporated the “Reason Why” technique into their lessons.

Mr. Toskana’s obviously been studying up on this stuff — and his “Reason Why” makes all the sense in the world.

Special thanks to Rick Lewis of Clear Channel for tipping me off.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Click this link to subscribe to Portland’s Finest Advertising Blog.

Request your free copy of my white paper, The Seven Deadly Advertising Mistakes and How to Fix Them here.

Got a question? Call me at 503-323-6553.