Idaho Ad Agencies

Its that time of year again.

The time when everyone and their dog, cat and goldfish makes their predictions about what the biggest trends will be in the coming year.  And, like every year, its a shot in the dark.  Sometimes those predictions are right, sometimes they’re horribly wrong.

That being said, this year I say we crowdsource the whole prediction thing.  I’d like to know what you, dear readers, think will be the big trends in 2010, and any predictions you’d like to make.

Comment away.

For the past several months, you may have noticed that news of layoffs has been absent from the Idaho Ad Agencies blog.  And it’s not an accident.

Several months ago, I made a conscious decision to stop writing about “layoffs, downsizing, staff reductions” or whatever other name you want to call it.  Why?  A few different reasons.

There’s enough layoff news going around already.  For the past year (and more), news of layoffs has been everywhere.  Name the medium, name the industry — it was there.  And that sort of news gets old.  Quick.

It puts a spotlight on those who have been affected, whether they’re ready for it or not.

And, quite frankly, it’s draining.  In many cases, these are friends and colleagues, and it’s hard not to let it get to you.

So there you have it.  If you’re looking for the latest layoff news, I’m afraid to say this isn’t the place you’re going to find it.

That is the second half of a question that’s been bouncing around in the back of my head for some time now (we’ll get to the rest of it in a moment).  Allow me to explain…

When it comes to marketing and advertising, good is just that — it’s good.  It meets the client’s objectives.  It pays the bills and keeps the lights on.  Good work breeds good work.

But is it memorable?

Bad work certainly is.

Let’s play a little game called recall.  The topic: Advertising for local car dealerships.  Television spots, specifically.  Glamorous, I know, but it serves the point.

When I mention the following Treasure Valley dealerships, do you remember what their recent spots looked like?

Meridian Ford
Dennis Dillon
Edmark Superstore
Team Mazda Subaru
Lithia of Boise

Of the five examples above, which garnered the most immediate or strongest response?  I would be willing to bet that it was Team Mazda Subaru.  You know the spots.  You’ve seen them.  Thanks to some effective media buying they’re hard to miss.  And that leads to the rest of the question:

If you’re not willing to be great, is it better to be bad than good?

Bad, in most cases, is just that.  It makes people cringe.  It elicits a strong reaction.  But it’s also memorable.  Despite your best intentions, I’m sure you can rattle off at least a half-dozen examples of bad advertising that you’ve seen over the years.  And in each case, I’d bet you can remember exactly who the ad was for, and what it was about.  Try as we might, bad ads are unforgettable.

But so are great ones.

The great ones do more than just meet the client’s objectives.  They influence an industry.  They change a culture.  As those who study this business come to realize, it’s the great ads that set, and in many cases reset, the bar by which others are judged.

Lest you think this discussion is limited only to television, it isn’t — it applies to all mediums.  The Bad / Good / Great distinction can take place anywhere.  In broadcast, online, direct, even face to face.

In all cases, Bad is just bad — memorable, but bad.  Good is effective and meets expectations.  Great is a game-changer.

So how do you define the difference between good and great?  What are you doing on a daily basis to push your own work from good to great?  Does it matter to you?

Our friends at The Denver Egotist have a great opinion on the state of award shows:  Award Shows Need to Evolve or Die.

And just in case you were wondering what their opinion really was, here’s a short snippet from the piece:

The problem with award shows right now is that although they celebrate creativity, most of the time anyway, they rarely consider context or effectiveness. And often, it’s not possible to really know the effectiveness of a big-budget branding campaign. So at the end of the day, the judging criteria is wide-open.

Take the time to read the entire piece.  Then, whether you agree or disagree, leave a comment and let Felix know.

It seems the City of Portland is experiencing the spec-creative backlash as we speak.

Yesterday, the news got out that the City of Portland has proposed a design contest to redesign PortlandOnline.

From Silicon Florist:

Now, you can try as hard as you might, but few things can be as insulting to people as telling them their work is worthless. Which is basically what the City is doing by asking for designers to work on spec.

Web developers, graphic artists and visionaries to transform the navigation and design of PortlandOnline, the city’s primary web presence. Winners will be fully credited on the website for their work – a website that receives over two million visits a month and includes over 140,000 pages.

That’s right. Or to paraphrase, that work that you do? It isn’t worth anything more than a link.

And today came a response from the Portland Advertising Federation’s President, Jerry Ketel –  The City Should Know Better:

This is simply the wrong way to go about designing an important communication tool in our fair city. The idea of this kind of contest is a perfect example of how much the city fathers value the contribution of the design community in Portland. I am certain that there is a very good Web design firm here in town who would work for pennies on the dollar to help the City of Portland to polish its presence on the internet. Not only would they provide design look and feel, but they would provide navigation and strategic expertise. This is Portland after all, craftsmanship is in our DNA. Our community wants to be a seen as a creative magnet in the world—it is a source of pride. So why don’t our elected leaders get that?

and:

Now is the time for the Portland creative services industries to rise up and plant a flag in the sand. We need to be recognized for the contribution we make to our city. We should start by writing letters and emails to the city about this disrespectful contest. And then we need to join together and strategize how we can become a force that cannot be ignored. It is time.

While this is not happening here in Idaho, it is an issue that shouldn’t be ignored.  I’d encourage those of you with contacts in the Portland area to get involved, and make their voices heard.  Contact the PAF or the City of Portland.

Jerry is right:  It is time.

*Opinion*

It’s interesting that I’ve received reports from several sources about layoffs, however there has been no movement on the website(s) of the agency/agencies in question.

It makes the company look bad by not being forthright about their staff.

It also does a disservice to the individuals who were affected.  It has the potential to make it seem that the former employee is still there, effectively creating some confusion as to the circumstances surrounding their departure.

In the end, it’s just bad form, and we’ll leave it at that.

Something about the Idaho Business Review’s cover story this week about “Greenwashing” just rubbed me the wrong way.

Maybe it’s the interviews that seem to end with more questions than answers.

Maybe it’s because Simon Shifrin takes a residential developer, and their agency, to task in a thinly veiled ‘you’re not being open and honest’ sort of way about their business motivations. Let’s not even get into the quoting (somewhat out of context) from the agency’s website, without any actual contact with the agency itself.

Or it could just be the “me too” reporting — writing about “green” activities, environmentally friendly stories and such is all the rage these days, so if the IBR doesn’t cover it, they must be behind the times.

This, my all accounts, is much more of an op/ed piece than business reporting. And I don’t think I’m alone in that opinion. Rick Carpenter, Robb Hicken et. al., you shouldn’t have let this story out the door the way it was published.

Of course, I could just be way off base. Been known to happen before…

Oh, and by the way Simon, it’s Stoltz Marketing Group, not Stolz Marketing Group.

Technorati tags: idaho business review, greenwashing, stoltz marketing group

Yesterday was a one-of-a-kind sort of days for me.

Just over a week ago, I got word that Gary Vaynerchuk was going to be speaking at a Legion of Tech event in Portland, Oregon. For those who aren’t familiar with Gary, he helped grow his family’s retail wine business from annual sales of $10 million to $50 million, went on to start a video blog about wine – Wine Library TV, and is incredibly active in the social media space.

The event took place in the atrium of the Wieden + Kennedy offices in Downtown Portland. W+K should need no introduction. It is a massive building, both inside and out. A unique blend of concrete and wood, the physical space itself is impressive. There are a number of open-air walkways throughout the center of the building, with offices / desks / work spaces / meeting areas around the peripheral edges. It is incredibly cool without trying too hard.

While I was listening to Gary speak (an excellent talk, by the way. If you ever have a chance, you really should see him in person), I couldn’t help but notice all of the activity in the building. It was 7:00 Pacific time before the event even got started, and there were still many people in various parts of the building, working, talking, meeting, etc. And, by the time myself and the other stragglers were finally shuffled out the door, there were still people in the building working. I get the sense that there is a dedication to the work, the company, the clients, and the idea that becomes a part of the W+K culture, and those who choose to (or are lucky enough to) work there, adopt that dedication as their own.

Too often, the end result of all of those long hours is discounted by those who will never know the effort that went into making sure every little detail was perfect, that nothing was left to chance. The end-result of the work quickly becomes the target, often by those with absolutely no knowledge of what went into it behind the scenes.

But there they were, putting in the time to make sure that whatever the task or assignment was, it was getting done.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for W+K the company, and more importantly those inside the walls of the building who make it what it is, and those who have passed through the oversized doors that helped it become what it is today.

Part of the reason that I made the trip was simply for the experience. Odds are I’ll never have the chance to step foot inside those offices again (however if invited, I’d accept that invitation in a heartbeat), but it was absolutely worth it. It was a refreshing change, and a good chance to refocus. If given the chance, I’d do the same thing again.

The question ask you, dear readers is this: Within the scope of your own world, agency-related or otherwise, are you willing to put forth the effort to make sure that thing you are working on is perfect? Or, are you satisfied with less? Are you content to check out at 5:00 every day? How much better would the work be if you spent an extra half hour on it? How much better would it be if you spent an extra hour on it? What drives you, and where do you find that motivation?

Heavy questions, and ones that cannot be easily answered. But if they’re never asked, nothing ever changes.

P.S. Yes Gary, in spite of the way it may sound, I really was paying attention…

Technorati tags: gary vaynerchuk, legion of tech, wine library tv, wieden+kennedy

Today marks the end of an era in the marketing and advertising world here in Idaho, for this is the last day that you’ll see Jeremy Chase as a member of the Drake Cooper staff.

Jeremy is packing up and heading to Salt Lake City, Utah, and is on to bigger and better things, as they say.

But before his takes one final bow at the end of the day, I wanted to take a moment, on behalf of the entire marketing and advertising industry in and around the State of Idaho, to say one simple thing:

Thank you Jeremy for all that you have done.

In a world where change happens at incredible speed, Jeremy has been a constant presence. He has been with Drake Cooper for well over a decade, and has helped to shepherd both clients and agency through the highs and lows that have come along with it. A true professional in every sense of the word, Jeremy has been a tremendous asset to the agency, and his departure will leave some very, very large shoes to fill.

I’m sure there will be many toasts made inside (and outside) the walls of Drake Cooper today, stories shared, and maybe even a tear or two shed. But let me take this opportunity to add my own thoughts…

Jeremy, you’re a class act in every sense. You’ve been an excellent ambassador for your agency and this industry, and you will most certainly be missed.

Technorati tags: jeremy chase, drake cooper

The topic comes up from time to time — local agencies doing work for local clients, particularly the larger clients that just so happen to be in the area.

Unfortunately, fairly or not, the fact of the matter is that the larger local clients do not always see the value that a local agency can provide.

Case in point: Blue Cross of Idaho.

Earlier this year, Blue Cross of Idaho chose the Minneapolis office of Weber Shandwick to help launch its new web-based health and well being initiative. The folks over at Red Sky PR first noticed this decision, and made comment about it on their PR Musings Weblog.

Another recent example: Balihoo.

In March, Balihoo named Affect Strategies as their Public Relations Agency of Record. Now, given Balihoo’s focus on large-scale media planning and buying, I can understand this decision. It is in their best interest to work with an agency that can provide the best exposure possible, particularly to media buyers and agencies that buy in large volumes, and a PR agency out of New York is certainly a wise choice. The cynic in me has to wonder, however, how much of this decision was driven by the addition of Michael Browner to their Board of Directors two days prior to the announcement. Pure speculation on my part, but the timing just seems suspect.

So without laboring on too much longer with the same old ‘poor us’ mentality, I’ll pose this question: What do local agencies need to do differently to either attract or retain these types of clients? Is it just a fact of life today’s business environment, or are there there areas that local, or even regional shops can focus on to differentiate themselves?

Now, the same question to those on the client side: What do out-of-town or out-of-state agencies offer that local or regional agencies don’t? Where are the local shops lacking?

Now that I’ve stirred the pot, I’m going to go ahead and duck for a while…

Technorati tags: blue cross of idaho, weber shandwick, red sky pr, balihoo, affect strategies, michael browner