On Entering The Pipeline

Let's Get Shifty

A base rule of marketing and advertising: it works on you, even if you are aware of it, well, working on you. I'm as prone to going for 2 for 1 deals, limited time offers, brand marketing blandishments and all of the rest as, well, anyone of my demographic class. Especially if the purchase in question is a low consideration moment in a retail setting, everything in the marketers' bag of tricks works on me. Even if I stop to think about why I'm buying something, it doesn't really matter. Tactics matter.

Which leads me to the latest moment of strong self-awareness, where my wife and I have started the process towards buying a new car. Our eldest daughter is moving towards driving age, has shown an aptitude for it in drivers education courses, and is poorly served by available public and school transportation. So we're going to gift her the 20-year-old Ford that's been serving as our second car, and add a third set of wheels that will serve as the primary ride for my wife, and for when we're all together as a family. (Our other car is a 6-year-old Honda hybrid, which is on its last payment.)

We've got several months before our daughter turns 16. It's also not as if we'll need to add a vehicle on that day, given that minors aren't allowed to drive without a parent for a good chunk of time. The idea is to go for one of the new set of sedan/SUV "crossovers" that avoid the issues that minivans have, but also don't completely abandon fuel economy, storage capacity, or passenger comfort. Finally, we haven't been in the market for a new car in many years, and don't really know that much about how these cars handle. Customer reviews are pretty similar on a lot of these, so test drives matter. Which means, well, going to a lot of dealerships. Three so far, with more to follow.

What's striking about this experience is how similar the different conversations are. You walk around the showroom and enjoy, or not, the prompt attention of commissioned salespeople. You give them your situation, and given that you are just going to take up someone's time without a sale today, a basic apology for where you are in the process. You take the test drive, and try to be polite about your level of interest in the vehicle in question. You learn what you can, then drive back to the dealership, and end the process with a cursory meeting with some supervisor, who thinks about a hard sell approach, and then thinks better of it. Then you go home, in your not at all new car, and try to remember all of the reasons why you can't just get something new today, because man alive, that new car is so much nicer than your current ride.

What comes next, of course, is the follow-up marketing; the emails, phone calls and alerts of what's available *right now* that would be just perfect for our needs. There will also be the promises of future service, possible incentives and offers, and so on, and so on. All of which is entirely defensible and expected, especially given how much is on the line for the various individuals we've met in the process, since they need to move multiple units every month to, well, remain employed. That's all occurring in a world where the Internet destroys margins at the dealer level, and makes competition at a price point easier and easier to know. Oh, and it's also with the possibility of technology just ending this business at some point, since self-driving technology is probably a when, rather than an if.

I feel bad for these guys, honestly. Even in the best of times, competition has always been intense, and it can't be a lot of fun to work in a business where tech just makes your job harder every month. But I don't feel so much for them that I'll take a worse deal, or fail to make my due diligence, once we've figured out our preference for brand, model and trim.

Oh, and the fact that all of my television and digital ads now seem to be relevant to my new car search?

Sure, it's a little bit creepy. But it's also reminded me to expand my consideration set to a few more vehicles that might be better for our needs.

Speaking of another business where tech makes your job harder every month...

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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.

Ads With A Hard R

My movie made how much?

A week ago as I write this, "Deadpool" opened to U.S. movie screens. Despite being a movie with a hard R rating that launched in the dead zone of February, it's brought in over $170 million in the US, and $300 million worldwide. With fan ratings and box office that more or less ensures repeat and word of mouth business, there's really no telling how much this could wind up bringing in. It also only cost about $58 million to make, which means it might be the best thing to ever happen to Fox. This is an absolute home run that's going to cover for a lot of strikeouts.

While the concept of the film is a little more talky and self-aware than most, it's still a superhero action movie; it does well in foreign markets, assuming its allowed to be shown despite content issues. My guess is that it will eventually make over $600 million at the box office, which is kind of astounding for a property that took forever to make, and owes its existence to "leaked" footage and fan community viral work. A sequel is inevitable, and if there was an over/under on how many of these eventually get made, I'd take the over at 3.5 in a heartbeat.

So why does it make me think about marketing and advertising?

Because of the reasons why it's doing well, and how they could, honestly, be ported to advertising with better martech.

A little more background first. Instead of following the usual tropes, Deadpool breaks the rules and doesn't feel like something that's been made before. It also manages to feel subversive through comedic mayhem and the fact that its hero is a cheerful psychopath, like, well, every video game avatar for decades. Rather than go for beyond tired gritty realism, Deadpool enjoys having powers, and refuses to admit to any responsibility for, well, anything.

Now, imagine you were an ad pro for a beer company. What kind of earned media and social play could you possibly get for your client if your ad was able to go to the lengths that Deadpool does in content matter?

Well, the Miller Light "Catfight" commercial dropped eight years ago, and hasn't really been done since. It also got millions of viral views, and did all of that before mobile tech exploded the amount of videos seen online.

How hard is it, really, for Samuel L. Jackson to use some of his signature profanity on different versions of those Capital One card ads, but just with adtech that makes sure the viewer is likely of age? Or salacious fast food spots to deliver, um, more branding impact?

It doesn't just have to go down the crass path, of course. I'm a father of young daughters, and if I could opt in for animated movie spots instead of horror trailers for the next five years, I'd be all over it. But the Deadpool tactic (hell, just being able to have a spend for the Red Band trailer of that movie would work) is where the growth will come.

You know how the rest of this goes, right? Adtech and martech that already exists on a retargeting level, that just needs to make the jump to the last mile. Cable and broadcast providers that have to sign off on the possibility of an outrage letter or six. And the money, as always, ready to come in and change the equation at a moment's notice.

Oh, and one last thing on this? There are already ads with profanity, and wildly successful ones. On podcasts, where hosts who do off the script reads seem to be bringing in major bank.

After all, if you can tune in content with this kind of rating, why can't the ads match what the audience has chosen to accept?

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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.

Better Call A Second Screen

Smoke 'em if you got 'em

The other night, I settled down to watch one of my favorite shows, AMC's "Better Call Saul", the spin-off to "Breaking Bad" that stars veteran comic genius Bob Odenkirk in a dramatic role. This column is only tangentially about that, though. I did something fairly rare for me; I watched it live. And in so doing, got the note for the "second screen experience", in which you can go to a web site and get additional points and trivia while the show plays out. So I did.

The content is fairly low-level, and doesn't really add that much to your enjoyment of the show. But what is being offered is a reason, however thin, to continue to separate yourself as a viewer, from the less lucrative on demand or subsequent streaming service, along with a greater share of voice for the show's lead advertiser. (Acura, and it says something fairly impressive that I remembered that, right?)

Now, the BCS crew is clearly making all of this "extra" content for later DVD release, so dishing out the additional behind-the-scenes filler doesn't seem to be causing them any undue strain. From an advertising standpoint, maybe it spikes the live ratings a bit, or helps to retain the audience a little more in subsequent episodes. On a personal level, I can't say it's going to work on me, because my professional basketball jones is strong, and a live game will always trump a canned drama. But I digress.

The point is that by using the now ubiquitous technology, the live show is made slightly more DVR-proof, and greater branding awareness of the network and advertisers is generated. If it works, and that's easily determined through live site traffic, we'll see more of it, on more shows. Maybe it will make the difference between what kind of shows are given the green light, and which ones are renewed or canceled. It's not just using tech to go beyond the traditional screen. It's using tech to fundamentally alter the business.

Which, of course, opens up all kinds of interesting marketing and advertising plays in the here and now, and much more so later, if the site ever becomes more interesting than the channel. Maybe more content unlocks on desired activity, like viewing longer ads. Perhaps you could get the season ad-free with, say, the acceptance of a test drive. Or the site uses retargeting tech to re-engage the viewer on show night. I'm pretty sure I'd notice, and probably even click on, banners for Saul Goodman. After all, I work in online marketing and advertising. I might need his services someday. (This is where people who are familiar with the show are, with any luck, chuckling darkly.

Now, something that has absolutely nothing to do with marketing, or advertising, but seemed to me absolutely fascinating.

After the show was over, AMC broadcast a talk show with Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn, who plays Odenkirk's love interest on the show. After a complimentary question about the chemistry that she and Odenkirk displayed, where the couple just feel like they've been together for years and years, Seehorn talked about an incident in which she tailed her co-star for hours, early in their working relationship, when Odenkirk was under the weather and unable to speak. Rather than fill the time with her own voice, Seehorn matched Odenkirk's silence.

You'd expect that to be awkward, and I'm sure that on some level it was... but it also made both actors very aware of each other, and to get beyond the need to impress, entertain, amuse and look good. Because, well, not talking. So they just became very aware of their body language, quirks and non-verbal emotions, the way that, well, people who have been in a long relationship with each other get.

Which also led me to the following realization. Many of my hobbies and day to day life lend themselves to similar experiences. Poker games. Going to a game. Playing a round of golf. And so on. All of these skew a little more traditionally male, and all of them can be done without a great deal of chit chat. It makes me wonder if this is at play in career advancement, personal networking and the like. And whether it's just easier, for one group of people.

So if I'm quiet near you, in one of my consulting or office gigs?

Might just be a compliment.

And the start of a very long-term relationship...

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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.