When Viral Is Off Brand

The Only 2022 Oscars Moment

I wanted to weigh in on the Oscars fracas, because I think it's an important lesson for marketing and advertising.

On a fast and obvious level, the moment seems like a win for everyone involved. An awards show with minimal buzz owned social media for a full cycle, with a ratings boost over last year's show, even during a time of war, plague and coming soon, famine. There's been a massive amount of speculation as to whether the confrontation was a "work", with slow-motion frame by frame analysis. 

This isn't a fast churn news cycle piece, or limited to just its lane. Today, I heard sports talk radio covering it, and my own children. That's two very different Venn diagrams right there.

If you are a believer of the axiom that any publicity is good publicity, this was a bonanza in earned media. So much that some have predicted this as a definitive playbook for future awards shows to have more unpredictable moments. Especially for ones with less conservative branding than the Oscars.

But from a long-term standpoint, it's hard to see how anyone involved benefits from the spectacle -- and the proof is coming from the number of apologies. Will Smith's brand, cultivated over decades, has been forever changed, with more than a little suspicion that he's not stable or what he projected. Chris Rock suffers less, but still has questions as to why he didn't step back to prevent the hit, or do more to respond to it. Jada Pinkett-Smith will likely catch some blowback, since Smith seemed to react well to the joke that triggered things before realizing his wife was not amused. Everyone in the room who stood to applaud Smith during his interminable awards acceptance speech later seems complicit as well. The fact that everyone involved seemed to go to an after-party later undermines any apology or damage control. Every other award winner was instantly forgotten in the aftermath.

If you want to tell the story that all of these people are hypocrites, phonies and devoid of any morals or decency, or you wanted to see a real-life "BoJack Horseman" episode, I guess you "won". But even then, what exactly did you win?

And that's just the short term damage.

In the long term, the movie industry, already in severe change and crisis from the pandemic and the switch to streaming, shows itself to be grasping, desperate and short-term. The home audience has to equate an art form that is capable of greatness to, well, reality television. 

The fact that everyone involved is a person of color gives comfort to people who should not be comfortable, and discomfort to minorities. It's just sadness and meanness for no payoff. Smith, Rock and Pinkett-Smith will not get a bigger payday from their next gig (well, OK, Rock might, because time and curiosity will create grist for future stand up bits).

So yes, short-term KPIs were achieved.

At the low, low cost of long-term branding, sales and revenue.

All publicity is good publicity?

Only if your product has worthless branding.

Fraction, Friction, Fiction

How it feels right now

 So for the past few weeks, I've been in multiple conversations with multiple prospective clients that are starting to make me question their good faith. (And given the timing, whether it's something I'm encouraging.)

That's one of the drawbacks to consulting. You just don't have full visibility into what's going on. So when a client goes dark for a few days, the list of reasons why can get uncharitable with a quickness. Especially when you are pre-contract, the client is taking on junior staff, or the initiative is part of a bigger and oft-delayed rollout.

Some employers will speak to the idea that the new modern workplace is increasingly fractional, with people taking on projects that truly interest them, or where they have something unique to contribute. This is especially true with remote work, with report of people doing more than one job (badly, of course) without either employer being aware of the double dipping.

All of which would be fine if, well, these limited bursts of work carried the day for all of the time when you were on the bench, ready to go in. The reality is that with very limited exceptions, the work that you do in marketing and advertising isn't something that only you could do. Unless you have a lot of folks bidding for your fractions, the whole isn't going to add up.

Which leads you to take on junior work or side hustles... and, well, taking on RFPs and dealing with the kinds of clients that lead you to question their good faith. 

Being an erratically paid consultant is one thing. Being an entirely unpaid one is quite another.

And being grateful for the clients that trade integrity for integrity, show loyalty by giving you more than just 100% fit work, or expand their time with you in troublesome times?

Is the most important thing of all.

(At least, until all of the dominos fall at once and we have very different problems...)

Driving Your Business

10 and 2 FTW

Recently, a prospective client asked how other companies (i.e., some of the ones that we have worked for) executed in a particular marketing channel. They were basically looking for direct and concrete yes/no answers on tactics to help solve an immediate problem. So, pretty much bread and butter consulting work.

I did not give them a yes/no answer. 

Here’s why.

a) We were being put on the spot to answer the question without data. 

b) Nuance and Tradeoffs isn’t just a terrible name for a band, it’s how marketers make decisions that are more likely to work out in the long run. If you ask us to make decisions in the dark in a pitch meeting, you are asking us to be omniscient. And, well, no.

Unfortunately for me, my prospect is new to the channel they were asking about. So just telling them no, sorry, data or go pound sand did not seem to be a good way to close a deal. Or look anything like a friendly and non-evasive provider that they would want to work with.

So, I did what many of the folks who have worked with me in the past will recognize as a common move. 

I asked a question rather than answer one. 

Here’s the question: Assuming you drive, how do you do it?

There are plenty of ways to drive a car, after all. You can clean it up nice and make sure all of your glass and mirrors are perfect, obey every speed limit, drive defensively and more. You can choose the safest possible vehicle, regardless of mileage or comfort, to give you the best chance of getting to your destination without mishap. You can drive an electric-powered car powered by your own solar array, because you want to model good behavior around mitigating climate change. You can rev the engine, gun it at the traffic light, and maybe even run yellow to red lights when you think no one is looking because you need to go fast and just enjoy driving that way

But what you really should be doing is taking the context into consideration and making the best decision for your self and brand. Maybe drive a little differently depending on who is in the car, the time of day, whether there are speed traps or traffic cameras, whether the road is smooth or filled with potholes. Run that red light when the road is empty, and you are getting someone to an emergency room. Take the bigger car when you have more people and cargo. And so on. Drive the way that makes the most sense for your business.

Now, for the vast majority of people and businesses? They are going to drive in a consistent manner while devoting their conscious thought to other matters. Execution can easily become rote, and maybe an extra mile or two of fuel economy isn’t worth having to remember to hit the Fuel Economy Mode button. (My hybrid’s got one of these. Helpful.)

But if you find that your tactics are not reflective of your brand? Or that you keep getting traffic tickets, flat tires, or no one wanting you to drive them anywhere? Change your tactics.

And drive happy.

(Side note: I don’t know if the pitch worked, but I would be surprised if it did not – if only because the prospect used the same analogy back to me later in the conversation. We’ll see.)