Accenture on the Future of TV Ads

Accenture has a good article on the future of TV ads, which makes a good companion to Joseph Jaffe's book, which I reviewed in this post.

Review of Joseph Jaffe's Life After the 30-Second Spot

Joseph Jaffe is an amusing guy. He hosts a podcast, Across the Sound, which is a fun listen for those interested in marketing and new media. It has only gotten better since it switched to a rotating co-host format. He also writes a successful marketing blog, JaffeJuice. When he's not doing all of that, he runs his own marketing consulting practice in Connecticut. Jaffe has considerable experience in the ad and new media industries, yet fancies himself something of a Young Turk rebel. As part of a campaign he calls unm2pnm or "Use New Media to Prove New Media," Jaffe is giving away copies of his new book, Life After the 30-Second Spot: Energize Your Brand With a Bold Mix of Alternatives to Traditional Advertising, to anyone willing to review it on his blog.

I took the bait. So, is Jaffe the visionary he claims to be?


Of course not. No one could live up to all of the hype the man has created around himself. He even recommends that you give him donations if you use ideas from the book! Please.

At the same time, if taken with a shaker of salt, the book is quite worthwhile. To really enjoy it, you should understand Jaffe's boastful games and play along with him. You need to understand his personality and appreciate the little touches like not using professional charts. Instead, we get photos of napkins with his drawings on them. It also helps if you listen to his podcast first, so you can picture the South-African accent.

So, if it isn't two tablets from Sinai, what about the book is worthwhile? Well, for starters, it's a very good introduction to and survey of the world of advertising today. We see the challenges and threats and we see the new promises. The real meat of the book starts on page 109 with Section III, "Ten Approaches That Are Transforming the Marketing and Advertising Games." There is a chapter on each of the ten (Internet, gaming, VOD, experiential marketing, long-form content, communal marketing, consumer-generated content, search, music and mobile, and branded entertainment). The chapter on your specialty will probably be a bit of a snoozer for you. Most of us in the Net business don't need to hear how swell the Internet is. At the same time, very few people will have this level of understanding of all ten topics, so there is something for everyone to learn. Even the chapters where the material sounds familiar have some good insights and specific cases. Ok, I have to admit I even got something out of the chapter on the Internet.

It is these specific case studies of the techniques in practice that are really the book's high points. What's even better is that each of these ten chapters ends with an essay by a master of the technique. When the essay is theoretical, it is the kind of manifesto stuff you could program Eliza to spit out. When it is specific and concrete, you get true inspiration, as in the stories on HP, American Express, and Visa. (HP is really cool)

So, the action starts a hundred pages in. What comes first? A manifesto. You can get my thoughts on manifestos in the previous post. In short, not a big fan of the manifesto. But, that's what it takes to sell a business book these days. Jaffe tries to rally a new movement. What he succeeds in doing is humbler but more valuable: he has created a great reference on where we are now and where we're going in the near future.

The Music Man. Or, the problem with business manifestos

How often have you bought a business book based on the back-cover promises and endorsements? Sensible people recommend the book as "essential for understanding the modern world" or some such thing. Then you read the book and find it fits this outline:

1. "You've got trouble in River City" - This is where the author tells you how the old way of doing things is antiquated. Old media are dead or dying. People who don't understand the author's message are sorry, doomed fools. You bought the book. You're smart. Of course, this is bogus. Hardly anything ever dies completely. How many times have movies been doomed over the last 110 years?
2. "You can have a band in the new, modern way. It doesn't require reading music or practice." The author over-promises and boasts about his new paradigm. This is very generous of the author, as it will give future authors material for part 1 of their books.
3. Some examples, some useful stuff, some common sense, few specifics

The book is probably 200 - 300 pages, short enough to fit an executive's schedule, but long enough to hold a lot of filler. Why do we read these? Well...

1. Some people are really out of touch. This includes those seeking to enter a new field. It also covers nervous middle-aged execs who want someone to tell them what is lurking out there. The "everything is obsolete" books play on their fears.
2. People who still think that a "theory of everything" really can explain the world. Call them "business conspiracy theorists"
3. People who like to read books saying things they already know written by authors who agree with them. These are the people who love to hear that they are in the forefront of the next big wave and will inherit the earth.
4. You and me. We read these books because there may be a grain of truth in there, or even 5 - 20 pages of good content.

In keeping with point 4 above, I suggest a web site that tells you which pages of the latest books are worthwhile. It would just have a string for each book, like 4.17.61-70.204. You could then write these numbers on a little strip of paper. Next time you are in a bookstore killing time while your spouse shops, you can get all the worthwhile content of the book in a half hour.

Some business books, like Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind and Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't advocate new models of looking at the business world. They rise above the manifestos by concentrating on explaing their ideas in detail with a multitude of real-life examples. Positioning takes very little time putting down the old way of looking at things. As far as I remember, Good to Great doesn't insult anyone's viewpoint. Both also offer concrete steps that one can put to use right away. One leaves both books satisfied and wanting more. One leaves a manifesto just wanting.

Rushed Email Campaigns

DMNews.com has a quick article on how to handle last-minute email campaigns. Not sure I agree with all of her points, but it is a good perspective. Well worth the quick read.

For the marketers: How to talk to a project manager

Your marketing plan is ready, the thousand approvals are complete, the negotiations with partners have succeeded, and you're ready to roll. Almost. There is still one place you have to go, one barrier before your success can be complete, before you can make progress towards this year's bonus. There is a dimly-lit area of your company crowded with computers and people you half know. One of these people can be a little scary or a little annoying. This is the person who can block your plan. This is the project manager.

That's how many marketers see things. In rare cases, it's true that the project manager is there to make you go through endless process before getting your project on a list where you will wait without updates as the deadline approaches. In other cases, project managers seem to have endless resources to push back any new work. But in most cases, it's just a matter of communication. Everyone wants to win, so here are some tips for making it happen:

1. Realize that this person is a professional with expertise. In addition to understanding the theory behind how projects work, project managers need to grasp countless subject-matter details, from design to programming to networking. If it looks like a project manager is not doing enough for you, the reason may not be a lack of competence.
   
   
2. Realize that the project manager's staff is limited. The PM's resources each have specific skills. The person who is best for your project may be booked for something else, may be sick, may be on vacation, or may still be interviewing for the job! Technical positions have extremely high turnover.
   
   
3. Realize that you are not the only client. Don't expect immediate responses to emails and calls. The project manager could be in meetings or putting out fires. Do demand at least an acknowledgement of your email or call on the same day. Your project list is probably not long enough to support a full-time PM and his department. Your peers are giving this person loads of work. If the PM took the time to pamper you at every juncture, your peers' projects would not get done.
   
   
4. Realize that this person may not be a great communcator. Some people are project managers because they excel at translating between business and technical staff. Others are in the role because they got promoted from a technical or design role. These people may be inarticulate. If you are a marketer, then you are a professional communicator and may need to meet the PM more than half way in order to ensure success. This isn't fun, and perhaps it's not fair, but it's how you will get things done.
   
   
5. Understand how hard things really are. PMs will BS you about how long something will take. Some of this is padding, which any good professional will use. If next-day turnaround is not required, best to not commit to it. After all, when you are dealing with technology, an unexpected crisis, such as server failure or a virus, is always possible. And speaking of viruses, a crucial person may get sick. Still, based on your experience with past projects and conversations with your peers, keep a record of how long things really take. If a PM tells you that something simple will take a long time and you have seen something more complex get finished more quickly, be suspicious. Don't accept, "It's technical. You won't understand." Make the PM go on the record with the exact technical explanation.
   
   
6. Make the human connection. Find out who the project manager is and what his ambitions are. Come on, you are a marketer, so this should be your strength! If you are seen as a friendly person and not just a source of email demands, you may be nudged up in the priority order. Some tasks really only take 30 minutes or less. If there is a week's wait for this kind of thing, it's just because there are so many items on the list. If you are a friend, the PM may be able to just do the quick work to get it out of the way.
   
   
7. Show appreciation. Make sure that the PM knows that you are happy with the work and appreciate the efforts. Find out who actually did the end work and make sure that they are also aware of your gratitude.
   
   
8. Notify the project manager early. As soon as you suspect that a project is coming up, let the PM know. A PM wants to understand his pipeline. This will help him if he needs to determine vacation schedules. It also helps prioritize your project over others. If you have a thorough talk with the PM asap, he will also present any questions to you early, so that you can gather any additional information that might not have occured to you otherwise.
   
   
9. Gather all project materials as soon as possible. If you need a logo from another company, give them a tight deadline to deliver it to you. If the other company has requirements for your work (such as technical specs for a banner ad), get them at the start. Best to get all of this to the PM early and all in one package. If this is not possible, send every individual item as soon as you get it along with an email that clearly states how everything fits together.
   
   
10. Make deadlines and dependencies clear. Why do you need something tomorrow? In some organizations, everyone says that they need everything "yesterday." PMs need to learn to filter out this kind of false urgency. If there is a real reason why you need something on a specific date, make it clear to the PM. If something else, such as an offline ad campaign or an event, is driving the date, make that clear, as well.
    
    
11. Make the importance of the project clear. The PM doesn't need to understand marketing, but it is good if you can communicate to him why you are doing a project. If an important deal or a substantial about of potential revenue hinges on the project, let the PM know. This will help you move up the queue ahead of other marketers.
    
    
12. Escalate, if need be. If you don't see the urgency you require, if your project is far down the priority list, if your deadline cannot be met, you may need to escalate. Best to first escalate on the marketing side. Talk to your boss. Is your project more important than others in your boss's group? If so, your boss should request that your project move ahead of your peers'. Then, you may need to go to your boss's boss, and so on. If the PM really is at fault, then you will need to escalate on the PM's side.
    

If the project manager isn't successful, your marketing will not get done. If you are not successful, there is no reason to have project managers and no way to fund them. The two of you need to live together. Why not learn to like it and make it work?