Yo, You Got the Stuff?

Yay more media-buyer targeted ads! I love them. This one is great. Thanks, adrants.

Oscar Ratings Way Low

Well, thank god the writers came off strike just in time for the Oscars. Guess what? America doesn't care! And yes, I am laughing out loud about it.

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Target Ads Never Cease to Impress

I love love love the "Say Hello to Good Buys at Target"campaign that's been running now for a while. Rearranging the classic Beatles song in each of the executions manages to keep this campaign fresh (at least to me) and here's the latest of my favorites:

I just love it. And now I'm gushing. Target gets it. Now if they would only realize that they are a discount store and stop trying to sell me a $50 jacket.

Tally Ad Club Presentation

My bad. I'm really late with this post. Jeff Pedigo from the Godwin Group came in to talk to the Tallahassee ad club on Feb 15. He gave a very interesting presentation about Memetics.

Yea, I didn't know what that was either. I have heard about memes because my old blog had been included on the z-list meme, but I didn't know there was an actual term describing the study of these things. Basically, memetics is all about how a meme replicates and becomes popular within a culture. It's cultural genetics (get it?). And like viruses, memes replicate and infiltrate the population.

Ah yes...and there it is...viruses...viral marketing. Buzz word of the past few years. The whole idea behind viral marketing is that something is so inherently cool/useful/interesting that you have to pass it on. And then it becomes part of a culture. It's ad agencies' job to figure out exactly how to make something so cool/useful/interesting that the audience feels they have to be pass it on. Which is pretty hard to do. I mean, who would have predicted how much children would love a television show about a sponge?



















Examples Jeff gave included the famous tag, "Diamonds are forever" from DeBeers (am I the only one that misses the dramatic shadowy commercials they used to run). And a campaign from his own agency that ran in Mississippi ("I'm not your mama!"). It reminded me of these ads for Florida's Center for Cosmetic Surgery that used to run in Miami when I was a kid. "Just one look is worth a thousand words!" Everyone down there knows which ads I'm talking about! haha

Back on track. The presentation went on to talk about how genetics evolve in the same way that culture evolves. Harnessing meme-spreaders (early adopters in marketing speak) can help push a Big Idea (hold up - another buzz word!) out into culture.

Very cool presentation. I liked it a lot. Thanks, Jeff. For more information about memetics, check out his blog here.

REAL[ITY] CHECK - 2/22/2008

The writers' strike is over, but scripted shows won't be back for another month or two, so for the time being, it's still all reality, all the time. Here are some of the highlights from this week:

• The premiere of this season of America's Next Top Model was Wednesday. Completely Delusional Tyra inserted herself into this season's prep school theme as Prom Queen. Shocker.
• Also on ANTM, they seem to have discovered the Chris Rock equivalent of the character Martin Lawrence played on his show Martin, Sheneneh, in Marvita.
• Celebrity Rehab is wrapping up and everyone seems to be losing their sh*t.
• One of the contestants on the Flavor of Love asks Flav to take care of her three kids in the event that something should happen to her on their skydiving date. Get in line kids! Flav's already got seven children. Six from accidents involving "parachutes" not operating properly. And by "parachute" I mean condom.
  
• Only a Matter of Time: On the Project Runway reunion special, they named the fan favorite winner of $10,000. Christian won in the fiercest landslide in the history of fierceness. He's going to have his own show (the fiercest show in the history of fierceness). Duh.
  

Reunited and it Feels so Good

Had a visit with my co-author this weekend. We got to catch up, our matching cars met, we pretended to be tourists. H, it was a blast (notice the Gossip Girl-esque use of one letter to represent an entire person). And how cool is it that Florida is home to the Sponge Capitol of the World?















Other news:
1. AdAge has a good update on the status of our favorite prime shows. Go here to see when your favorites are coming back (no Prison Break until fall...single tear).

2. In February's issue of Media Magazine, Andrew Ettinger talks about how people have been conditionally trained, like Pavlov's dogs, to immediately change channels at a commercial break. This makes the first ad of the break the best. However, these sneaky networks are using that spot for their own programming and selling the second spot as the "first." Liars! That spot is worthless! Actually, it isn't worthless, but it's not ideal. And the networks aren't liars. But still.

Ettinger goes on to wonder if this will start to happen online. I think that's a terrible idea! Can you imagine sitting through multiple ads to watch a video? I don't see that one going over well with viewers. Yuck, blah. Don't do it. And buyers, don't let it happen!

3. Today was Oliver's birthday. He works at 3W Studios, Kidd Group's web division. He's older than I thought he was, which is a compliment because he looks way younger. I also learned that he was in a french hair band. Yes, its true.

4. Colleen found this site: Jesus of the Week. It posts pictures of Jesus, all in good fun of course. My favorite is Jesus in the rims.















Lastly, thanks to H for convincing me to pick up this lovely souvenir from Tarpon Springs. He's right at home in my guest bathroom.

REAL[ITY] CHECK - 2/15/2008

There was TONS of good stuff this week, so let's get to it.

• On Snoop Dogg's Father Hood Snoop's kids learned very important life lessons from Snoop's cousin, Joe Cool, "Never smoke a pipe. Never touch another man. Never suck another man's dick. Never suck your own dick."
• This week I caught a little known show called Jail, where people are shown being booked and held in jails across the country. I tuned in because the preview billed this particular episode as the OJ Simpson episode. I will tune in next week because one of the staff members says to one inmate, "You're here more than I am, you know the rules".
• One of the husbands on Wife Swap claims to be proud of the fact that he has brainwashed his children, because, according to him, brainwashing entails being washed as a part of God's love. The man should be "washed" of his parental rights.
• Flavor of Love is back for a third season. Doctors in the LA area will soon start to see the return of Flavorrhea.
  
• On the last real episode of Project Runway before the finale, the most shocking thing was not that both Chris and Rami are going to be completing collections and competing for the third spot at Fashion Week, it was the peek of garter I saw under Gillian's dress when she jumped up and down after getting a spot in the final three.
  
• Only a matter of time: At the elimination ceremony on Rock of Love, Aubry decided to sacrifice herself to save Kristi Joe's place in the house. Moments after her dramatic exit from the house, we find out, he was getting rid of her anyway. Once Kristie Joe gets inevitably kicked off, I'll put money on them getting their own show together. That kind of love doesn't come along very often.

We Ran For The Cookies

Ran a 5k, that is. This one benefited the Girl Scouts, of which I was a badge-wearing member for many of my formative years. Some advice: Samoas are the best cookies. Period.

I noticed my race goodie bag contained a flyer for a local business. What a great way to reach runners - inserts in their race bags! Duh. Should have thought of it sooner! Would be perfect placement for New Balance, Saucony, Nike or other athletic gear. And so close to the customer, too. In addition, these races aren't just for really good runners. Runners of every level are involved, which even furthers my argument for this medium (I realize I am taking liberties by calling race goodie bags a medium). Anyway, that would be a really fun (if not labor-intensive) media buy for some big name athletic companies.




















Running 3.1 miles for Girl Scout Cookies? They are totally worth it.

REAL[ITY] CHECK - 2/8/2008

I decided to boycott last week since Project Runway was a repeat. Here's the REAL[ITY] CHECK for this week... and last week:

• Last week, Lyric, from The Bad Girls' Club, left the house. Good Riddance. She was the only one out of the entire house that hadn't really participated in the feud of monumental proportions.
• Also last week, I was so happy to hear Patty, The Millionaire Matchmaker, call one of her clients' facial hair a "landing strip". Because, really, it is a patch of pubic hair on the man's face.
  
• This week on Project Runway, Crybaby Ricky FINALLY got voted off. The real surprise here was that he didn't shed a single tear the entire episode. Apparently his tears were what gave him his magical staying power.
• Crazypants Brooke, from The Gauntlet III, got kicked off. Is anyone really surprised by this? And after having known each other a week, (the most meaningful week of their lives, I'm sure) Crazypants Brooke and Crazypants Ev say a tearful (maybe that's where Ricky's tears went?) goodbye and proclaim their undying love for each other. Seriously? Seriously.
• Celeb Rehab continues to be my new favorite guilty pleasure. It came out this week that Daniel Baldwin, whose wife is pregnant, had been sending inappropriate text messages to Mary Carey. Next week, Jeff Conway flips his sh*t on his girlfriend, for bringing alcohol into the facility with her. So exciting! Can't wait!
  
• Only a matter of time: Heidi Montag, of The Hills, and her terrifying mitt hands will get their own reality show. Spencer will shoot it, natch. (Story.)
  

Media Buyer as a Job

So how can I argue with a headline that touts my greatness?

I think my co-author made a really good point about media buying and car buying. It's actually a question I asked interviewees when we were looking for an assistant media buyer. If you've ever bought a car, you've probably had an experience that is a lot like media buying. There are definitely some similarities.

1. If you're a smart car buyer, you probably did some homework before deciding on the one. You probably test drove it. In media buyer world, you watched the show, listened to the station, read the magazine, etc.

2. Then you picked up a blue book to see how much it was worth. To further my metaphor, you opened up a Media Market Guide to see what the going ad rates were.

3. Then you bought a Carfax report to see what had happened to your car in the past. For the media buyer, they examined Nielsen & Arbitron reports and looked at audits to see if circulation had gone down and if ratings had been stable.

4. And lastly, as a good car buyer, you certainly didn't settle for sticker price. You haggled. You had them throw in a free oil change and car wash. Media buyers should do the same thing. Rate card? What rate card? And oh yea, we're gonna need free color to put you in the buy.











"No way. Those rates gotta come down!"

So will my co-author make a good media buyer? I'm thinking she's on her way. It's actually a pretty fun job. I think mostly because buyers have a good idea of what media is truly worth, which makes negotiating a lot easier than it sounds.

Michelle knows best

Alright, I know I'm only supposed to do the weekly reality show update (which is late, I know, but I have a good excuse), but I figured Michelle would give me a pass given the title of this post.

Michelle and I had a conversation a while ago discussing my career options, and my wanting to work for an ad. agency but not knowing what role I would fit in. I told her that, among other things, media planning wasn't for me. She got pissed (PISSED! a la Zac) and said that media planning was awesome, because you get to spend other people's money and haggle and get the best deal on media.

I told her that just wasn't for me because I feel bad asking for a better deal, etc.

Today, I bought a car.

My first purchase involving a substantial portion of my hard-earned money, financing, etc.

I am now of the opinion I would be an EXCELLENT media planner.

The car was already a really good deal. $12,290 for a 2005 Accord with 50K miles. Look it up, you won't find that price anywhere. If you do, don't tell me. It will devastate me.

Then, I successfully talked my final price down $3000 from what they were offering.

I'm waiting for the thing to fall apart. If 90 days passes and I am still driving my new car, I'm applying for a job in media planning.