Stop Shouting, Smartphones Are Cool, Parental Disparity

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Tuesday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com.  Copyright 2013 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.



Program scripts from week of June 2, 2013

(My apologies for the long silence.  Life has been...complicated)

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 

Parental Disparity                                                                                                      

Well this is the week following Father’s Day which means I have listened to the entire inventory of Father’s Day and related advertising.  Once again this year I must note that I am not overly impressed.  Especially when you compare it to what goes on for Mother’s Day.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I am not trying to take a single thing away from the Moms of the world.  At the same time the 41% disparity between what gets spent for Mother’s Day over Father’s Day could probably bear a certain amount of examination.  I’m just sayin’.

No the real problem for me in the disparity between parental holiday practice is quite simple.  When Mother’s Day rolls around we are exhorted to buy Mom luxury items.  Flowers, expensive dinners, fabulous jewelry, days at the spa or salon.  Mom is to be pampered.  Now let us take a look at what we are supposed to buy for dear old Dad.

Two words.  Power tools.

I know lots of dads like power tools, heck I’m one of them, but seriously?  Mom gets spoiled.  Dad gets back to work.  The other traditional gift is a tie.  Ties are to Father’s Day what underwear is to Christmas morning.  As I was driving on Sunday I actually heard a place say that the perfect for Dad on Father’s day was flooring.  Flooring that he would have to install.

I mean, what did dads ever do to deserve this?

Think about this.  What if you reversed the roles?  What if on Mother’s day you presented Mom with a brand new shiny...vacuum cleaner?  Sure some Mom’s would like it but let’s face it you had better sleep with one eye open for the next year.  But somehow dad is supposed be head over heels, doing cartwheels around the living room because we got stuff so we can do more work.

Don’t even get me started on the whole category of stupid dad/idiot husband commercials.  I’m really tired of dear old dad the amiable buffoon.  Again, not something you’re ever likely to see a mom version of in advertising.

But hey, I probably should get back to work.

Stop Shouting                                                                                                             

Back in the dark ages, when I first got started in radio I had a habit.  I typed in all caps.  I’m not sure why I did that.  It’s not something that I was taught when I learned to type in high school.  I certainly never did it for my term papers in high school or college.  My best bet is that I started doing it when I started to study broadcasting at the then Edinboro State College.   There are two reasons I can think of for doing it.  First because when you’re trying to read quickly from your script on the TV set it was easier to see.  Plus a lot of the older teletype machines that brought you the news from the wire services didn’t have lowercase capability.  Everything was capital letters.

When I moved into professional radio and had to start writing commercial copy it was made very clear to me that this little habit was no longer acceptable.  And I have to admit that normal typing with both upper and lowercase is much easier to read generally.

I suppose I could try and blame this on my dad.  The problem is that I don’t ever remember him sending me something typed this way.  Now he might have and that’s what brings the subject to mind.  You see my dad was a Navy officer and the Navy has traditionally typed all official documents in all caps.  They had a perfectly good excuse.  In fact it’s one of the ones I’ve already mentioned.  The teletype printers used by the Navy going back to the 19th century only had caps so all official documents were printed that way.

Until August of this year that is.

The Navy is responding to changing technology and changing society.  If you spend any time on the Internet or with texts you know that typing in all caps is PERCEIVED AS SHOUTING.  The current generation of Naval officers and enlisted have grown up with that understanding.   Let’s face it, official orders can be hard enough to stomach without the feeling that they’re being shouted at you.  The Navy also notes that this will save the service a million and half dollars each year.

There are a couple other branches of the service that are also looking at the changeover.  By 20-15 or so the only things still shouted in the Armed Forces will the phrases “Are You Eye-ballin’ me?” and “Sir, yes sir”.

Smartphones Are Cool                                                                                                                                       

One of my younger friends told me the other day that he had seen a study that said something along the lines of - If a new technology came along before you turn 20 then it’s just a routine part of life for you.  If it comes along between 20 and 40 it’s life changing technology.  And if you’re over 40 the reaction tends to be “Do we really need this?”

Did I mention my friend is a young punk?

The first smartphone was introduced in 2001 by the folks at Palm and Kyocera.  It truly took off with the debut of the iPhone.  Both of which happened after I turned 40.

Of course I have owned a smartphone for some time now.  To be honest at one point it looked like I was going to have to give up my trusty old iPhone.  Tried it for a couple months.  Hated it.

So let’s take a look at the statistics.  91% of all adult Americans own a cell phone.  That’s right a mere 9% are cell phone free.  Of those of us who are cool the latest study says that 56% of us own smartphones.  That’s an all time high and I’m pretty sure that we can expect that number to continue to grow.  You see the percentage is much higher in the 20-30 age demographic and much, much lower in the 65+ demographic.

So what can we deduce from all this?  Well my friend might suggest that it just means that younger people are cooler than older folks but we’ll just ignore that.

For me at least the reality is that having quick access to routine information has moved from wonderful luxury to near necessity.  The world does move quickly.  I’m old enough to still actually make a fair number of actual phone calls but I also do a fair bit of texting.  But you can do that on any phone.  The ease of texting on a smartphone is a plus.  Then add in things like quick access to weather forecasts, the news, my email and things like that just makes me more efficient.  I’m not ever going to be a big fan of watching videos on most smartphone screens.  Tiny pictures and tiny little audio feeds just don’t meet my needs.

But then I’m an old person.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

Cheerios and Cowardice, Trailer Wars plus Sports and Media

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Tuesday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com.  Copyright 2013 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.



Program scripts from week of June 2, 2013

(My apologies for the long silence.  Life has been...complicated)

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 

Sports and Media                                                                                                       

Time for one of my rare forays into the world of sports and media.  And it all begins when a man loses his job.  In this case the man in question is National Hockey League coach John Tortorella.  Tortorella was, until recently, the man behind the bench for the New York Rangers.

Now on the surface it’s kind of hard to see why he lost his job.  The Rangers were 171-115 and 29 in his time, made the playoffs 4 of 5 seasons he coached and finished first in their division just a year ago.  Heck the Rangers signed him to a contract extension just a couple months ago.  So apparently he’s not a terrible coach.

At least on the ice.

If you’re a hockey fan or a regular viewer of ESPN you have seen what the coach was bad at however.  He gave awful media.  Arrogant, dismissive, uncooperative, Tortorella made it clear that he’d rather be having the most unpleasant medical procedure you can imagine rather than talk to reporters.

The relationship between sports and media has changed immensely over the years.  Once upon a time reporters considered covering up the personal shortcomings of the players just part of the job.  More recently with 24 hour coverage the relationship has been often more antagonistic.  The former Rangers coach isn’t the first sports coach to be, shall we say, less than forthcoming.  New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has made something of an art form of it.  But Belichick manages to keep it at least civil.  It’s more a mandatory social engagement with someone you don’t much like.  

Here’s the reality.  The old days are gone.  Local coverage from print, radio and TV plus national coverage from the networks both broadcast and cable plus all the bloggers and vloggers are a part of the day to day life of athletes and coaches.  You either need to figure out how to deal with them like a professional or find another profession.

I’m sure John Tortorella had some shortcomings as a coach on the ice.  But my bet is that his shortcomings in the interview room are probably what cost him his job in the long run.

Trailer Wars                                                                                                                

Interesting when you get two completely different groups of people to suddenly start saying the same thing at the same time.  In my experience that’s when you need to start paying attention when they’re talking about you.  In this case it’s the movie studios who need to sit up and pay a little attention.  It’s not the movies themselves that are generating the conversation this time.

It’s the movie trailers.

Trailers are those movie previews that we watch before we get to what we actually paid to see.  They’ve been around for decades.  Like since 1913 when a short promo film for a musical called “The Pleasure Seekers” debuted in New York.  They’re called “trailers” because orginally they were shown AFTER the movie.  When they moved to their current postion shortly thereafter the name stuck.

So what’s the problem after all these years?  How about the darn things have gotten too long?  That’s the assessment of two different groups, the theater owners and the audience.  A British research company called YouGov did a survey of audience members and found 49% said the trailers were too long and gave away too much of the movie.  Meanwhile the theater owners think they’re just too long, period.  With an average length these days of two and a half minute it just keeps pushing the start of the movie back and back and back.  Which also annoys the audience.  And there is no profit for the theater owners in an annoyed audience.  Plus they’d like to limit the advance time for promotion to just four months.  Right now you may be looking at teasers and trailers for movies that aren’t scheduled to be released until the summer of 2014.

You can certainly include me in the crowd that thinks these trailers are just too long and give away too much.  At the same time I have to admit that the really bad movies are pretty obvious when you watch a long trailer.  There’s just a feel to a trailer that has handed you every single funny moment in a bad movie.  I kind of appreciate those I must admit.

At the same time I’m in the theater to see the movie I paid for, not something that’s coming in 10 months or to see a trailer that gives away any reason to pay for it when it does come out.

There’s a lot of conversation going on with people whose opinions count.  Let’s hope the studios are listening.

Cheerios and Cowardice                                                                                                                                         

I know the whole Cheerios TV ad has been analyzed to death.  I doubt I have anything particularly new or exciting to add to the discussion.  At the same time I think it’s one of those stories where every voice needs to be heard.  We need to be clear that certain kinds of behavior just aren’t acceptable.

In case you missed it Cheerios is running an ad that involves a family of Mom, Dad and little girl.  The little girl asks Mom about whether Cheerios are good for your heart like Daddy says.  Mom basically agrees and little girl wanders off with the box of cereal.  The last scene shows Dad with his chest covered in Cheerios.  Cute.  The source of the furor is that Mom is white and Dad is black.  The immediate reaction in the comments section of YouTube was angry, abusive and overtly racist.  While there was an outpouring of positive comments in reaction Cheerios wisely chose to turn off the comments and make them all go away.

Now let me be clear.  I think the whole race-mixing, miscegenation argument needs to be consigned to the scrap heap of history.  It’s the human race and it comes in different colors.  I have no use for any other point of view.  At the same time I defend our American belief in freedom of expression.  The French author Voltaire said "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."  and I agree completely.  But he also said “We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard.”  And that’s where we may have lost the thread.

Freedom of expression does not mean that we can say whatever we want without fear of peril, risk and hazard.  Our Founding Fathers knew it.  That’s why the last line of the Declaration of Independence reads that they “mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor,”.  They accepted the risk in the words they said.  

The problem with the Internet is that anonymity is taken as a right as well.  Behind the cowardly mask of that anonymity things are said that dodge the risks and hazards.  Those who exercise their bigotry under the flag of freedom of expression without being willing to take on the burden of those comments betray the very foundation of our country.  As such they should be treated with the contempt that such behavior deserves.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

Chris Berman, The Future of Radio and Winning Advertising

 "The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY.  It can be heard Tuesday through Friday just after 8 AM and 5 PM.  The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program.  Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moments notice.  WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed.  You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com.  Copyright 2012 by Jay Phillippi.  All Rights Reserved.  You like what you see?  Drop me a line and we can talk.

Program scripts from week of September 10, 2012

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside. 


Chris Berman                                                                                                          

ESPN decided to make a big announcement last week.  You may not have noticed but the last year or two have been a little rough at the World’s Leader in Sports.  They’ve had some high profile folks leave, there have been complaints about how female staffers are treated, just a few small details like that.  So what do you do when folks are talking about everything other than your product?  You make a big announcement.

And true to the sports world model that they cover ESPN went with the announcement of a big contract extensions for one of their stars.  Oh let’s be honest, it’s a contract extension for thier equivalent of the starting quarterback, the home run king power hitter, fill in your favorite sports figure here, Chris Berman.

Like him or hate him, and there are plenty of people in both camps, Berman is The Man at ESPN.  And why not?  He’s outlasted pretty much any other contender to the throne.  Berman was hired just a month after ESPN launched and has been the mainstay, voice and face of the network pretty much ever since.

As I read the coverage of the story I thought to myself “That’s not Chris Berman’s only claim to fame.  He’s also responsible for the mess that sports journalism is in right now”.  That’s right I believe Chris Berman is responsible for everything that’s wrong in sports media today.

Once upon a time sports coverage was about, here’s a novel thought, SPORTS!  The games themselves and the people who played them.  Unfortunately today the games appear to exist only to give an entire industry of talking heads something to rant and rave about.  It would be one thing if we were getting some intelligent conversation out of it.  Instead we get Jim Rome and the cadre of wannabe’s following in his footsteps who are making a living out of being the person we all hate at the games.  The loud mouth know it all who won’t just shut the bleep up.

Once upon a time you only noticed the sportscaster when they did a really good job describing the action.  Today too often we can’t get them to get out of the way so we can even see the action.  The transitional step between the days of Vin Scully and Jim Rome?  I’m afraid that would be Chris Berman.

Hey Chris for this new contract how about making it be about the game again?

The Future of Radio                                                                                                

I had a very interesting conversation the other day with a friend of mine who is still toiling in the media mines of Radio.  It backed up something I’d come across from “Professional Music Geek” and blogger Alan Cross.

Cross points out that radio is slowly killing itself.  Not through programming choices or the slow erosion of aging technology or even by being stuck in an old business model.  Radio is killing itself because it’s leaving nowhere for the next generation of radio stars to be born.  When my buddy and I were talking we had both noted that it was hard to encourage young broadcasting students about careers in radio because neither of us see much room to build a career in radio.

Let me use my own career as a model.  I started at a day time only Country station in southwestern PA.  I did the local news for the first half of the day.  Then I got the chance to try my hand at my own program.  I next moved up to Erie PA as a copywriter and production director.  I made a lot of mistakes there but had the room to learn and grow.  Another station put me back on the air, then I was hired here in Jamestown as a swing shift announcer.  That’s the bottom of the barrel.  No regular shift, you work when you’re needed.  I got lucky, a full time slot on a certain radio station opened up and it was full speed ahead from there.

The problem is that most of the jobs I did on my way to full time in a drive time slot don’t exist any more.  Small market stations have largely eliminated local news, sales people write their own copy and with more automation there are fewer slots to learn and grow in.  It’s not even a safe haven to be the “established star” (certain folks here in Jamestown being the exception to the rule) because lots of those people are being cut for budget reasons.

So where will the next generation of radio stars learn their craft?  A lot of folks think it’s easy to be a radio DJ.  That’s basically true.  It is very, very, very HARD to be a good one.  Like anything it takes practice, dedication and a clear understanding of the ins and outs of creating a great product.

The industry as a whole appears to be happy turning out cookie cutter mediocre radio.  Doing great radio requires taking a chance.  Sometimes it’s taking a chance on a young, untested announcer who just might grow up to be something special.  Not many places to learn how to do great radio any more.

Fake Reality

Any time I hear someone deciding to try something that’s worked before I hear Doc Brown’s words to Marty McFly as he talks about going back to the future.  Relying on the past is not always the best decision but if you choose your spots it just might work.

For example if you’re a nationally advertised product right now you know you’re up against a couple different problems.  First of all most media consumers just don’t like commercials as a general rule.  Second we now live in a era where you can avoid them if you want.  Between people recording programs and watching them later (called time shifting) and fast forwarding through the commercials to the newest technology which allows you to do basically the same thing with live broadcasts the advertiser has to find some way of making sure their message gets heard.

So a tip of the lid to the folks at Aleve, the over counter pain killer.  They’ve taken a cue from broadcasting history to make sure their message is heard on the syndicated program Jeopardy.   Now in the old days a company would simply sponsor the entire program.  There’s a reason why soap operas are called that.  Laundry soap companies paid the freight for the program.  Pretty much no one does that any more.  But Aleve has a new variant.

They provide the cash for the second and third place contestants, insuring their name gets mentioned.  They buy a ton of ads on each show all week and they buy the very last slot just before the Final Jeopardy answer is revealed.  They then mimic the Final Jeopardy screen and insert a product related question and answer.  In the end you are going to find it very hard to avoid the product.  And that is the function of advertising.

This is an example of a company taking a look at the reality of the market in which they have to compete.  No whining about how hard it is or unfair.  They find a model that offers them the best results they can get and they commit to it.

In the past or in the future that’s almost always a winning formula.

Call that the View From the Phlipside.

View From the Phlipside Radio - Social Oldies

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside.

I remember an old Flip Wilson routine.  His character Geraldine Jones would proclaim “When you’re hot you’re hot”.  Well in the world of the social network who is hot just might surprise you.  It surprised me.  And I’m a member of the group that’s hot.

That’s right it’s older folks.  Baby Boomers.  Older Gen X types.  Even among the retired crowd the social networks are having to sit up and pay attention.  In part the reason why the business types are paying attention is because we older folks do something that the young folks don’t.

Now don’t get me wrong.  Young folks are still flocking to the social media sites and they are a huge part of the user group.  On the other hand the largest growth group are us oldsters.  Over 50% of adults over 30 are involved in some kind of social media, like Facebook or LinkedIn.  And for those of us who are over 65 (which lets me out by a fair margin) about a third of that age group are on the social networks.  So the older generation are certainly worth the attention of the media moguls.

The real reason why they are  paying attention is the fact that while we may not be inclined to hit the “Like” button for advertisers we are more likely than the younger generation to actually click on the advertisements.  You can imagine the excitement of the advertisers when they find people who might actually check out their ads rather than clicking on the link that says “See what this girl did when her Father posted on her Facebook page”.  As an aside do yourself a favor.  DON’T click on those links.  They are scams and trying to get your contact info so they can drown you in annoying spam.

Turns out that this could be a big deal.  You see social network sites are now the third most visited category for all internet users.  The younger generation will no doubt be astounded to hear that e-mail is still safely in first place, followed by search engines and then social network.  So a growth in the demographic that actually clicks through (that’s the technical term) on the advertising has to be good news for all.  As usual it looks like the adults will have to pay for the good times of the younger generation.  Ah well.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

View From the Phlipside - Miracle Whip

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside.

Time for me to lay a little love on a commercial.  Every once in a while I see one that impresses me enough that I need to give them a little public display of affection.  I always love it when someone decides to turn a negative into a positive.

Late last month Miracle Whip decided to do just that.  When it comes to the white sandwich condiments there is are only three options - mayonnaise, Miracle Whip or none of the above.  I grew up in a Miracle Whip family.  That's all I ever knew and I've always found mayo to just be a little boring.  At the same time I know plenty of people for whom Miracle Whip is about the most disgusting thing they can imagine.  So how likely is it that we'll ever change our minds?  Probably pretty slim but there's always those folks on the fence who never really paid it all much attention.  How to win them over?

The latest ad campaign simply took the issue on head on.  It involves people who love and people who hate Miracle Whip.  On the pro side you'll see folks like political commentator James Carville and author Amy Sedaris.  On the other side you have the Jersey Shore's Pauly D.  Need I say more?

This isn't the first time that Miracle Whip has stepped to the plate over their unique taste versus mayo.  Back in 2009 they ran a campaign that said "We will not tone it down" defending their spicier flavor versus mayonnaise.  In response Stephen Colbert took on Miracle Whip and defended mayo as only Colbert could.  Turns out Miracle Whip wasn't going to back down either and promptly bought an extensive run of commercial time on Colbert's TV program.

Rather than try and be all things to all people they've simply embraced their difference.  The slogan for the campaign says it all "We're not for everyone (are you Miracle Whip?)".  The campaign ties in with a dedicated YouTube channel where you can leave your opinion (the lovers are way ahead of the haters at the moment) and even snag a free sample.

Advertising can too often be bland and boring (a lot like mayo really) when people decide to play it safe.  Three cheers for Miracle Whip standing up and saying  "Hey, not everyone likes us.  That's their problem".

Oh yeah, color me a little loud and tangy.

Call that the View From the Phlipside

"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY.  You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2011

View From the Phlipside - Super Bowl ads

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, radio, the movies and more.  I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion.  Call this the View from the Phlipside.
You know I just looked up going into last weekend and realized that it was Super Bowl weekend.  And I hadn't given it a thought.  Not the Super Bowl.  As a born and raised Pittsburgh boy the football game has been center stage in my thoughts for weeks now.  As one friend put it, we are climbing a stairway to seven.  At least I hope so as I write this just prior to the game.

No what I'd not given a thought to was the question of Super Bowl advertising.  Let's face it some years the ads are better than the game.  If you're a dyed in the wool media junkie like me the Super Bowl is every bit as big an event as it is if you're a football junkie.  This is the, well, Super Bowl of advertising.

And I'm really underwhelmed.  Not underwhelmed with the early word on the ads.  Underwhelmed by the whole concept.  Then it occurred to me that I may not be the only one because I didn't hear the kinds of chatter about the ads that I have in the past.  Surfing around on the web I do find some coverage but again I don't detect the kind of breathless anticipation that used to come with the Super Bowl ads.

I can tell you that you are about to watch at least 45 minutes of ads and promos during the game broadcast.  The record is from last year at just shy of 48 minutes.  I can tell you that ad time has risen from only 40 minutes back in 2001.  A 30 second spot?  This year's price was right around 3 million dollars.

And I just don't care.  Looking at the list of sponsors it's largely the usual suspects with a tilt this year towards car ads.  I anticipate the Star Wars VW ads will score pretty well with the fans.  The HomeAway ad where the test baby is thrown into a window will get its share of criticism.  Bud Light, GoDaddy, Pepsi, Doritos...

Yawn.

Once upon a time this was something I got up for, researched, prepped for and looked forward to the breaks in the action.  These were ads that were going to enter the popular culture zeitgeist.  We'd be talking about them, comparing notes on what we liked and hated.  Now it's just the launch of the newest ad campaign.  I find myself confronted with a rather astounding situation headed into Super Bowl 45.

I may actually want the ads to get out of the way...of the football game.



Call that the View From the Phlipside.

"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY.  You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2011

View From the Phlipside - Good versus Bad ads

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, Radio, the movies and more.  I love 'em and I hate 'em and I always have an opinion.  Call this The View From the Phlipside

I've noted before that I spend a lot of time watching TV commercials.  Part of it is because for a large part of my radio career I wrote advertising copy.  At one station it was even my primary role.  So I have a real appreciation of a nicely thought out concept.  Of course the are two primary goals to advertising.  First, you want the consumer to remember who you are.  Car ads very often fail at this.  You get wonderful visuals and long lingering shots of the smooth lines of the car.  And at the end of thirty or sixty seconds you have no idea who the car maker is.  That's a bad ad.  The other thing is that the consumer should have an increased interest in or desire for your product or service. 

With that in mind I want to take a look at two ads that I see regularly right now.  They jump out at me because both of them go outside the box as the saying goes for their concept.  One is the "Man Your Man Could Smell Like" ad from Old Spice.  You know the one "Look at him, now back at me, now back at him, now back to me, I'm on a horse".  This ad has taken the media world by storm.  I hear it being quoted on TV shows, the video gets played all over the place.  The ad is like nothing else on the air.  It has a little fun with itself and it's product.  Old Spice had an image problem.  For most of us Old Spice meant our dads or granddads.  It was old guy stuff.  Not so much any more.  My grand dad was never that funny or that cool.  You remember the name of the product and it makes it more likely that you'll buy it.  It's advertising that works.

On the other hand we have the ads for "Hotel Planners dot com".  This one is a rip off of the old Saturday Night Live Hans and Franz routine.  You remember, "We want to pump you up".  The company does planning for group trips apparently and the ads are clearly done on a very low budget.  Characters will complain about where they stayed on their last team trip and these two clowns in what looks like costumes from an elementary school play show up.  I suppose the good news is that I do remember their name.  The bad news is that there is no chance I would ever spend any money with such a low rent company.  They are actually working against their own best interests.

A well done ad will make everyone a lot of money.  Whatever ad agency thought up the "I'm on a horse" campaign is getting lots of phone calls right now.  The other guys?  Even on the tiny budget they have to spend, I'm afraid they've wasted a lot of money.

Call that the View From the Phlipside.

"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY.  You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010

View From the Phlipside - Online ads

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media.  TV, Radio, the movies and more.  I love 'em and I hate 'em and I always have an opinion.  Call this The View From the Phlipside

You may believe that no one spins the news more than politicians but there's a new contender in the race.  I could not believe my eyes at the reaction from some folks in the digital media world to a new study from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism.  The latest report from this distinguished study took a look at the attempts to find a new business model fornewspapers and magazines.  The big question of the moment is the balance between free content and pay.  Simple ads don't seem to be the answer but putting content behind pay walls has very strong negatives with the consumers.  At least that's what you might think till you hear the spin merchants get a hold of the report.

I began reading responses that talked about "strong" positive responses to paying for content.  And even greater excitement that among those of us who spend a lot of time on web sites the approval rate is even higher.  Wow, I thought maybe this is counter intuitive.  Then I looked at the numbers.  The percentage of folks who click on ads at least sometimes on web pages?  21%.  Among those who surf everyday it goes the whole way up to 28% and for folks who visit the same site once a day, the most dedicated users, it's all the way up to 37%.  That's right they're all excited about numbers that leave 63% or more of the users in the "Keep your ads to yourself" category.  You'll also hear that 81% of people said they don't mind having ads on the website if it means they get the content without an additional fee.  That sounds better right?  Sure till you drill down and discover they told the folks at Pew they don't mind the ads BECAUSE THEY CAN EASILY IGNORE THEM!  Advertising that no one is paying any attention to is a waste of money.  And trust me when I tell you advertisers HATE wasting money.  To be honest a lot of them don't like spending money on advertising whether it works or not.

Let me make it clear that it isn't the folks at Pew that are all rosy about this.  The Pew report goes on to say that no single business model has shown any significant strength and that it may not be a single mode that wins in the end.  Each entity will have to find their own way of staying afloat with whatever creative method of paying the bills they can make work.  Ads, subscription programs that eliminate the ads, some free/some paid content.  And of course you have to get the consumer to buy in.  The problem is that right we the consumers like the system we have.  Mostly free, with advertising we can ignore or block.  Changing that will be the hardest sell.

Call that the View From the Phlipside.

"The View From the Phlipside" airs on WRFA-LP Jamestown NY.  You can listen to WRFA online HERE
Copyright - Jay Phillippi 2010