The Best Present

Present and Present

Christmas is a multi-day event for my family. The day before is filled with wrapping, decorations, and making the staging area just right. The day itself is for immediate family, with our group of four exchanging presents. Later in the day, we usually visit local family, with a few more presents to exchange. The next day or so, grandmothers visit, and those gifts are also passed around. It sometimes feels like overkill, but for the most part it works, and everyone gets more or less what they want. (This year, for me? Really good socks and a treadmill. I live a very exciting life.)

However, this year was different, because in addition to taking care of our own needs, we also did something altruistic and deep. I'm not going to get into the details of it, because they are private, but our commitment here was more significant than we usually do, despite coming at the end of a highly challenging year.

What I've discovered from the act was that it has stayed with me, even in small moments and unoccupied times. Where you might find seasonal depression, concerns about crass capitalism, or worries that the kids are being spoiled, now I've got the memory of giving. Instead of obsessing about how we're going to make what we need to make, or just how short the year has been, it's more of a confidence that, well, we did that, and it will come back in time and in measure.

It's kind of like the counter-balance to grief. We had a beloved pet pass away far too soon a while back, and I can make myself feel bad just about any time I care to, just by remembering that day. But now, I can make myself feel good, just by remembering the gift. If you are of a means to do so, I can't recommend the presence of this kind of gift in your life highly enough.

And with that, I'm going to call an end to 2015 posts on the M&AD blog and on LinkedIn, and see you all in a week. It's time to clear out the fitness goals, work on the nooks and crannies of the house that have missed my previous attention, binge on some Netflix (I've finally cracked open "House of Cards", and by heaven, it's great), play video games with the kids and get away from the writing addiction for a little while. We'll be back for the usual 3X weekly schedule in 2016, and as a final gift to you, this: we got through the entire month of December without resorting to a listicle or calendar-driven futures pieces. Of such small moments are holiday miracles, and memories, made.

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Selling Fear

Bad things to sell on

Read something interesting today; a year preview for 2016 that was hopeful, but with science. Or, at least, math. Let me explain, and don't worry, there's marketing and advertising later.

The author cited studies that quantified the standard of living in both the richest and poorest areas of the globe, and noted how in the latter, while the standards were (obviously) much lower, they also resembled, well... the standard of living in, say, America in the early 1960s. So the next time you think about sub-Saharan Africa, where the public image is nothing but bloodshed, famine and charitable solicitations, keep in mind that while things are bad there, they certainly are a lot better than what they used to be.

My apologies if this dulls your charitable ardor. Also, America in the early '60s was a lot harder than remembered, especially if you were in the poor parts of it, and a minority. Anyway, you get my point.

A similar story can be told about bloodshed through combat. Per capita, this just used to be much more likely to kill you; now, about 5% of the earlier rate. World poverty, literacy rates, rights for women, what it's like to be a member of the LGBTQ community, the prevalence of functioning democracies -- all on the upswing, all much less awful than they used to be, all good when looked at not through the ebbs and flows of individual news cycles, but decades. Continued progress must be fought for, but even the most cynical among us have to admit that some progress has been made.

So why does everyone seem so convinced that the times are always getting worse? And not just for those that feel threatened about the improvements made for others?

Well, because humans love us some drama, and good times are very bereft of those. We also have unprecedented communications and connectivity, which means that bad news travels and finds every audience. It's also made the world more or less unfiltered, with the best and worst of humanity all just a click away. But the actual numbers? On the upswing.

And that's where we get back to the work. I've worked on any number of ads in my life -- honestly, probably in the four figure range of individual clients -- thanks to several posts that handled big numbers. Sometimes, those clients had unique selling propositions, great offers, a compelling story to tell. Less often but still relatively common, they had none of these things, and sold more on price, or marketing trickery. And when you had none of that, the last and worst thing to sell on? Fear, uncertainty, and doubt. That if you used a competitor, you would be making a mistake, would never enjoy your purchase because it reminded you of that mistake, and that you would eventually be unhappy, or inefficient, or laid low by the whiff.

It's a terrible thing to sell on, frankly. It always felt wrong in my core, never worked for very long, and didn't make me happy, even when the client was pleased. It was the gig, and work sometimes involves things that you have to do anyway, but I was always glad when the project passed, and I could get back to something that fed, rather than drained, my soul.

I have to think that this isn't an unusual reaction, that the pros who do this kind of work all the time are doing damage to their health, both mental and otherwise. And that better choices exist, both professionally and personally.

I'm blessed to have made some really nice choices in my life this holiday season. My greatest wish is that you have the opportunity to do the same. If not now, soon.

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Would You Take Martin Shkreli's Business?

Perp Walk

So the most obvious story in marketing this week was the federal takedown of ex-pharma CEO Martin Shkreli. And while it's a little galling that he wasn't taken down for corporate malfeasance in his day job, but fraud against rich people in his side work, most folks are just happy that he might go away for 20 years, and resigned his post at Turing Pharmaceuticals. Proof of karma, right?

Well, maybe, but I'm not entirely convinced. Shkreli wasn't brought low by his poor public behavior or his ethically compromised behavior. Rather, he was taken down by garden variety criminal behavior (allegedly). His company wasn't punished in the marketplace until the actual handcuffs moment happened. (Oh, and props to the little weasel for being unshaven and in a hoodie when the perp walk happened. Way to look the part.)

But the real point of order here is that we had someone who seemingly did not have any public compunction about being vilified, or fear that he'd be brought low from the attention. Rather, Shkreli seemed to delight in trolling his detractors on social media, and to pour gasoline on the fire with conspicuous consumption decisions like buying a $2 million album, then making sure the world knew about it, and that he also had no immediate plans to listen to it.

Honestly, the entire episode seemed more like a calculated move, like a wrestling heel... but there was no crowd of people paying top dollar to see the villain get his. Instead, there was a kind of fame that seemed to appeal to the CEO, and while you can just brush this aside as the decisions of a lone psychopath, it's harder to claim single exception status in a world with other, well, reality television influenced careers.

Maybe this is just what happens when the top strata of society is made into its own social phenomenon, or what occurs in the all or nothing world that is created with swipe left / swipe right dichotomies. Perhaps it was t'was ever thus, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's pronouncement that the rich are different than you and I from "The Great Gatsby" is just made more obvious in a fragmented channel mix.

Or, perhaps, we're just beyond the ability to publicly shame any more, and the next Shkreli will be along any day now, either in his old consumer category or in another, because outrage is easy to generate and a reaction is what's needed now in marketing and advertising, even if most of the reaction is negative.

As a consultant, it's business that I want no part of, because I don't think it does well for your long-term business. Or your health, conscience, or soul.

But if the choice is stay in business without virtue, or feed your family with compromise?

No one ever said your professional choices would always be easy, or obvious...

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Questions Without Answers

It's Very Welcoming

So there's a lovely moment that hit my social feed today from Survey Monkey UK, as a small reminder to us that the British are Very Different Indeed. Or, at least, their adtech people are. Let's get into the details on this.

It turns out that only 12% of survey responders admit to having ads sway their purchase decision. Which leads Mansoor Malik, managing director UK of SurveyMonkey, to say: “Christmas is a great time of year, and we wouldn’t be a grinch that says brands shouldn’t contribute to the festive mood. However, we must be honest and recognise that if campaigns aren’t driving sales, they’re not meeting their core objective. Clearly, most brands today undergo expensive audience testing before running ads, but our findings suggest there are a few simple questions that still need to be answered by any brand before they commit to a campaign.”

While we're asking questions, I have a few to add.

1) Can we get the 12% that said yes to ads puppies? I feel that they would appreciate puppies, and take care of them.

2) Are survey respondents in the UK hooked up to lie detectors and electroshock inducers?

3) Is it illegal in the UK to lead the witness, so questions that obviously do it somehow, well, don't?

Surveys that ask questions like this are less than worthless, because, well, no one admits that they are so weak minded that all it took was an ad to get them to change their mind. Of course they said quality or price; those are tangible reasons that speak to intellect, and very few of us will admit otherwise, even to an anonymous survey.

What would have been a better question to ask? What parts of an advertising mix were remembered. Whether or not certain ad formats were better, or worse, at making a person think a product or service was worth spending more to acquire. If there was such a thing as hearing from an advertiser too often, so much that it kept you from making a purchase.

You know, questions that actually give us something close to an actionable move, other than just another pointless data point of how No One Likes Ads.

Because ads aren't meant to be liked. They are meant to sell stuff. And when you stop advertising? Generally, you stop selling as much. Kind of how this stuff works, really...

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Five Steps To Take After A False Metrics Issue

Many Numbers, No Friends

Here's something that should never happen, and all too often does, in marketing and advertising: your metrics come under question. Either a portion of response isn't being counted, some attributed revenue error has occurred from crossed wires, a keypunch error occurs and does major damage, reporting from a third party source fails you, and so on, and so on.

Let's also assume it's not your fault, and you still have a gig. What should your next move be?

1) Resist the urge to go off on a multi-state killing spree, even though no jury of your peers would give you anything more than time in Country Club Prison as a punishment.

Well, mostly because marketing and advertising people are rarely on juries, and mostly because it's very unlikely that any of your victims are to blame for the situation. Besides, it will get misinterpreted. If you must rage, I suggest weeding. Very aggressive weeding.

2) Wait to publicize the problem until you have a plan. 

Bad news spreads fast, but bad news with no greater subsequent action of "Well, I've told you about this, so now you can feel as bad about it as I do" is just irresponsible. If your numbers are getting adjusted, or previously known points are no longer known, you want to own that, rather than have it given to you.

3) Find the benefits -- and yes, there will be benefits. 

Are there expenditures that you can now cut, bullet points that you can leverage in negotiations, or others in the industry that are operating under the now discredited assumptions? These need to be brought to your management's attention immediately, not because every cloud has a silver lining, but because they are opportunities that should be exploited. Fortune favors the brave.

4) Develop contingencies, back ups, and useful suspicions. 

Even if no one is blaming you for this adventure, that doesn't mean you shouldn't be thinking about steps to take to make sure it doesn't happen again. Maybe more supervision of keypunch work, espionage work to see what rates and practices the rest of the industry is following (so you don't find yourself at a suspicious level again), or a third-party audit to give everything a sanity test. Oh, and try to make sure that everyone remember this the next time that some troublesome number is taken as gospel. Never let a crisis go to waste, folks.

5) Try to look at this from a future perspective. 

Finding errors is never fun, but the nice part is that once they are found, you don't make them any more. Doing marketing and advertising is kind of like driving a tank; if your view and gauges aren't showing reality, unplanned things are going to happen. Life is better with planned things. And certainly a lot easier on the other vehicles in the parking lot, and the fauna.

Anything to add? Would love to hear from you in the comments. Remember, the truth will set you free!

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes at top right. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Making It Better: Seven Marketing Ideas for Gymnastics Meets

Very Important Gear

As a parent of a competitive gymnast, I've spent many hours at my daughter's meets over the past three years. If you've never had the pleasure, let me describe how this works. You pay to place your kid in a class. You pay to have her on a team, complete with the shockingly expensive team leotard that she'll be constantly pulling at. You pay to get into the actual meet itself. And then you duck hours of lame lottery pitches, cold concessions, and candygrams and stuffed animals that you can give to buttress the confidence of your athlete. All while spending four to five hours of stress, waiting to watch your kid perform for less than ten minutes, on four different pieces of apparatus.

Needless to say, there's a lot of dead time. And more than enough time for me to think about ways to make it better. Let's go to the list!

1) Computers and projection systems exist. Use them. Every meet I've ever been to has come down to people with clipboards writing down scores, and way too much time waiting around at the end of the meet so that someone can do math, badly and slowly, before handing out awards. All of which is very exciting to the kid for her first meet, but after about two or three times through the ringer, they are pretty much done on wanting to wait around. Have the awards ready to go as soon as the last kid performs, because every parent alive will adore you for this. Failing that, mail 'em.

2) Set up your gym for prime photography and video. With everyone having the ability to get performances on video, and professionals in short supply or need, there should be a simple and defined place for people to shuffle in and out and get their video done. Enough with having the heads and bodies of other people getting in and out of shots. Just set up walkways and defined spaces. This shouldn't be hard, and we've never seen it.

3) Go beyond 50-50 tickets. Honestly, from the folks I've seen at these events, scratcher tickets would sell. So would video poker in the lobby. We've got a lot of time to kill here, people. If you gave a concession split to a vendor on this, you'd make a mint, and add a little more poignancy and tragedy to someone's losing day. Why is Daddy crying? Because he's so proud of you. So much that he's going on a diet for a few months.

4) Actually make Wifi work. I know, I know, I'm asking for the world here, but this never works, and drives everyone insane the entire time they are trapped in your gym.

5) Premium seating. I'm not talking about actual front row stuff, because to be honest, you should move around during the meet as your kid goes to various apparatus. But if someone wants to rent seat cushions to supplement those terrible folding chairs? Ca-ching.

6) More freedom with the candygrams. Why limit messages to how proud you are of your kid, or how much you love them? Let's hear some options like how much the other teams stink, how in a world where death and taxes are the only constant, her beam routine is the reason for hope, and that life itself is very much like the vault. Let's add some head scratchers to these, please.

7) Juke box heroism. Sure, you can do your floor exercise to your preferred music, but can you do it to music that's been chosen at random, with special challenge tracks brought in to see if you can avoid laughing? Add some drama to this. And if the kid can hit her spots to Barney the Dinosaur or Metallica, I'm even more impressed.

Bonus - Liquor license. And maybe vendors. Beer Me!

Got any others to add to the mix? Feel free to add them in the comments. I've got many more meets before the season is over...

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes at top right. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Global and Local Change

Gets License, Facial Hair

If you read about Millennials and their buying habits, you've heard how there's been a sea change in their thinking and needs in the past few years. Gone, we are told, is the all-consuming interest for their own cars, replaced by the desire to be ferried around while they text in peace. Failing the Parent (or Grandparent) Valet Service, we're told that Uber and Lyft are just the ticket, especially because such a move is summoned by the all-powerful smartphone. Independence and the open road? Meaningless, compared to the wonders of cyberspace. Oh, and by the way, Dad, no one uses the word cyberspace anymore.

They also cast a fair amount of side eye, by the way, at the idea of self-driving cars. No one's seen that where I live, and you generally aren't going to be able to sell kids on bleeding edge technology. Besides, the mechanisms of the local school system codify drivers education as a credited course, with simulators and everything. It's very serious business, Dad. Cars matter.

And as for the new tech... well, maybe somewhere else. Especially in places where ride sharing services are ubiquitous, or the kids make their own money and pay for everything. (That place is, I am sure, Parent Utopia.) Which isn't exactly my neck of suburbia, or the experience of either of my siblings, both of whom have auto-ready kids. For them, the rite of passage is the same mix of excitement, terror and tedium that it was for us, lo those many years ago, when we became of automotive age.

This is, alas, the nature of change. I don't doubt that in the Bay Area, or maybe the boroughs of New York City, or other enlightened areas with massive ride-sharing penetration and good mass transit, there's less appeal than there used to be for cars. After all, the median age for new car purchase is now in the mid '40s and climbing ever higher, and there's got to be something to all of those rising demographic numbers.

Just not in the here and now, or in my personal zip code. (Couldn't get her to sign off on the hoverboard a few months ago, either. Maybe my kid's just a Luddite. Or has secret stock in an auto insurance agency.)

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes at top right. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

When Many Forms Of Money Are Speech

Your Speech Isn't Green Enough

It's not my place, as a marketing and advertising consultant, to show my hand in politics. In my time as an ad man, I've worked both sides of the aisle, on both a candidate and commerce level, and at the core of the work, there's something of the ethos of a trial lawyer at work. You make the best case for your client, and trust in the marketplace of ideas to prove the merits of your argument. Whether or not I believe in, or patronize, a product or service should not ever be obvious to my client, because if we're in that mental space, we're in a place that's far from doing good work.

So this isn't where I join in the cavalcade of people who give you their opinion on the phenomenon that is Donald Trump, or offer up my take on the latest statement that has garnered headlines, awareness, approval and condemnation. If, for no other reason, that I'd like this column to have more of a shelf life than a fruit fly. But I will note that, from a marketing and advertising standpoint only, what's going on here is fairly revolutionary.

Thanks to social media, Trump no longer needs the media to communicate with his audience, but communicating with just that audience isn't, of course, enough in an era of fragmentation. What's needed is for the media to take these moments and reflect them to a wider audience.

This is, on some level, paradoxical. Trump's difference as a candidate, for good and ill, is that he is independently wealthy on a scale that differs from his opposition, so much so that he is able to speak off the cuff about, seemingly, anything. We've had candidates like this before -- Ross Perot is the obvious historical parallel -- but unlike Perot, Trump hasn't actually spent that hard on this endeavour, or even had to collect much from his flock.

Instead, it's the money that he's made in the first place, along with the decades of playing for media time, that qualified Trump's output as news. That output has produced undeniable ratings, to the point where Trump tried to leverage the higher ratings from his appearance into a paid fee, beyond what any other candidate would receive. (That, in and of itself, is revolutionary, since every candidate up to now has seen enough benefit from appearing on camera in the first place to not worry about also getting paid for it.)

Finally, it's meant that no network has been willing to just stop covering the candidate, because to do so would be to court lower ratings, let alone risk the ire of his supporters, or the candidate himself... with, of course, every other network willing to give air to the fire.

There's been some signs of weak polling for Trump in the past week or so, so maybe actual voting will stop the money -- err, speech. But there's a sense that the toothpaste has left the tube, and that the next political war won't be fought with the air power of big media spends. Instead, it might be the millions of unpaid voices on social media, all of which, of course, wouldn't have been there in the first place without the money.

Amazing system, this.

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes at top right. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

A Krampus Miracle

Hello, Horned One

This weekend, a movie opened with very little buzz, during a time of the year that is usually death for new releases, while being opposed by popular holdovers. It wasn't expected to do well, with most observers thinking that it would be likely to make less than $10 million. Given the lack of "A" level talent, and the usually strong foreign market for effects-heavy movies, it wouldn't be a disaster, but no one was expecting a major win for Universal.

Instead, "Krampus", the odd mix of horror and comedy that plays off ancient Austrian Christmas myths that speak to the other side of St. Nick., is going to bring in $16 million, second only to the "Hunger Games" juggernaut. As it only cost $15 million to make, and has already pulled in $3.3 million in overseas gross, it's highly likely to turn a solid profit, especially if there is any holdover to the audience in Week Two.

So how did it happen? Well, start with the actual subject matter. The Krampus myths have been making headway for years now, with parades happening in Europe, mentions in mainstream media, and an ever-growing desire among people to personalize the holidays. Next, move to the timing. If you've ever needed a reason to question the status quo, consider the wisdom of why horror movies don't do well in December, because it's not exactly something you can point a lot of data at.

Third, there's the possibility that the movie's actually good. (I actually saw it with a friend on Friday, and it's a bit of a mess with a need for editing, but I've had worse times.) Fourth, there's the usual demographic cross-matching, with a varied cast to bring in multiple classes. And finally, there's just the fact that horror movies, as a rule, always tend to do a little better than expected, because they fly under the cultural radar. Horror movies don't get award buzz or high-end word of mouth. Instead, they sell tickets.

So, kudos to "Krampus" -- proof that trying something new and different is almost always its own reward. (Besides, it's probably best to say nice things to the dear fellow. No need to risk a visit.)

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes at top right. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Seasonal Gifts For Your Creative Team

Santa Brings The Smokes

T'is the season... for uninspired office Secret Santa moments. These can be particularly troublesome when you draw the short straw and have to shop for a creative. Which is why I'm here to help! Without any moment of cynicism or sarcasm, no no. And with that, on to the ideas!

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Copywriter: Depending on the relative prosperity of your place of business, this can range anywhere from a pack of smokes to an ironic typewriter. You also can't go wrong with a threadbare peacoat, or a print of their favorite writer at work. But for my money, a signed copy of something from a dead famous author shows real thought and warmth, and also underscores the idea that they won't be recognized for their genius until after they are able to profit from it. Seasonal depression is a given for these folks, so you might as well make it poignant!

Real gift: Movie gift card. Every copywriter has a screenplay in the pipe, and hence, a dream of actual prosperity.

Designer: Since everyone lives and dies with computer stuff now, it's important to pretend otherwise, and give styluses, paints, exacto knives and so on. They are just dying to get back to that real feel, and the fact that they will never, ever have time in the day to do that doesn't mean anything when it comes to gifting.

Real gift: Craft store gift card. They'll go in for the paints, but leave with something they'll actually use. Like pipe cleaners! Can't ever have enough pipe cleaners.

Creative director: This is usually a designer that has been given the sorry task of herding other designers, which means the holidays are special for them just for the joy of getting away from these people for a few days. Your gift ideas are to help give this person the illusion or memory of being somewhere else, or the ability to reset their minds when the day has gotten away from them. I'd go with one of those little mini zen gardens with the cute little rakes, or maybe a bonsai tree to mangle.

Real gift: Booze. Good booze; they are directors, after all.

Traffic manager: Every single traffic person I have ever met, or you will ever meet, is unable to function without a delicate balance of caffeine and nicotine. Find out which delivery system is their preference -- this won't be hard, the evidence will be all over their cubicle -- and lay into a mighty supply. There's all kinds of coffee snob stuff out there, and chewables. Go nuts; they already are.

Real gift: If you want to be nice, a spa trip that they will either never use or re-gift. If you want to be appreciated, get 'em their drugs.

Developer / coder: What with the turmoil in these worlds between Flash, HTML5, mobile sizing, responsive design and more on the way, these folks have had the full Chinese curse of living in interesting times. Assuming this is still a job, and not just outsourced or destroyed by technology. You can try a gift certificate to a continuing education course, a gift card to a tech book store, or even some fun Think Geek swag for their desk, but where you should be going is...

Real gift: Booze. Lots of booze. And then more booze.


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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or visit the Web site. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.

Ads That Work... Too Well?

Quick one today, because I'm fighting off illness and over scheduled. (Also, no image, because various forces are messing with me hard, the way that always happens when you are fighting off a bug. Not appreciated.)

Does anyone else consider the timing of the American Medical Association's call for a ban on broadcast ads for over-the-counter (OTC) medications curious?

I'm probably overstating this on the simplicity, but I think it's a simple case of OTC ads taking up the place of daily fantasy sports sites on NFL ads.

You remember those, right? They were only on every 90 seconds for the better part of two months, so much so that public irritation with the businesses probably accelerated the legal action brought against them in many states. (Well, that and the fact that the sites are clearly gambling, and corrupt, and only were made legal through a lobbying loophole. But I digress.)

Ads on NFL games are many things. Wildly expensive. Shown to tens of millions of viewers. Not skippable, because interest in the game is real time only, for the most part. 30 to 60 seconds long, an eternity in an attention deficit age. The last bankable mass audience. And incredibly memorable, because they are just about the only ads that anyone sees and remembers now.

There's pros and cons of OTC ads. Some studies have shown that patients are better at sticking to a program when they are more bought in, and that the ads do that. Others believe that this is a consumer segment in dire need of legislation and change, with political figures making the industry a target. The ads themselves can seem off-putting, especially when you get into the side effects. And as we've already established, the ads are being viewed.

That's the nature of spotlights; everything is revealed, and there's nowhere to hide. I wouldn't be at all surprised if, like DFS before it, OTC pharma is making the right move in the short term, and the wrong for the long.

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Feel free to comment, as well as like or share this column, connect with me on LinkedIn, or email me at davidlmountain at gmail dot com, or hit the RFP boxes. RFPs are always free, and we hope to hear from you soon.