the world according to schmogel.

zucks, i’ll take on you, you can take on me

Have you heard? Women’s World Cup is going on in Germany.

Every four years this happens. And every 4 years it is exciting, beautiful and most importantly it’s talked about. It’s not the Superbowl, it’s not LeBron, hell, it’s not even draft week… I am not naive, I get that women’s sports will never get the same level of commitment in media support and ad dollars. But there are pockets in which they should. We see it in the Olympics and I can’t think of a reason we don’t see more activity every 4 years around women’s soccer.

No one should be surprised about the excitement and hype around the women’s world cup. Wambach, Solo and Rapinoe may have replaced Mia, Brandi and Julie but the punchline is still the same- women’s US national team unites soccer fans and welcomes bandwagon fans every 4 years. And in a world of brands trying to connect and have conversations with fans, women’s world cup seems like an easy one.

1999 and 2011 women's world cup

It’s been a top twitter trend for weeks, the amazing win over Brazil hit the cover of almost every newspaper across the country, 3.89 Million people tuned in to watch the pass from Rapinoe to Wambach, and ESPN has a mobile truck traveling across Germany bringing great live coverage. No one should be surprised that there were standing ovations in baseball diamonds across the country when the final score was announced. No one should be surprised that the game is aired live in times square. You can be a little surprised they won an ESPY (as it was the late entry 2 days before the award show)… but only a little.

The athletes are accessible- they run camps for young players, they stay after and sign autographs, they play in leagues in the US and across Europe, they tweet, and have facebook profile- they do everything short of knocking on your door and introducing themselves. They are fit (they beat Brazil because they were better conditioned), they are humble, they are role models.

The the usual suspects continue to set the bar high and the three that deserve a big thumbs up for the level of commitment are:

1. ESPN- Across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNw it’s been great. Big Blue is fun and welcoming. Commentary has been superior. Old players from multiple countries providing perspective.

2. NIKE - NIKE has always placed value on women’s sports. they support athletes 365 days a year and have committed energy to a dedicated campaign for this year’s team… Pressure Makes Us. (here, here and here)

3. US Soccer (here, here and here) – social pages, studio 90 videos and getting players involved is a lesson for all brands

With the good comes the bad (or opportunities if you will). A few places that leave room for improvement… Rogaine sponsored the semi-final match. I would love to see the brief that made this an effective investment. And for the brands that are re-purposing ads that kind of relate to women’s soccer… ads they made with US men national players, ads with soccer balls in them… it’s better than running a football ad, but not much. There are categories, industries and product lines that can connect better and create more value for their investment.

So brands, agencies and fans. Stop waiting four years to be reminded how powerful these three weeks can be. Stop second-guessing if their will be enough buzz. Stop doing the bare-minimum to be associated. Create something meaningful for a passionate fan base with a team that captures the hearts of a nation for 3 weeks every four years. It will be worth it. (and there are plenty of ways to extend it beyond those three weeks, but I’ll leave that for another day).

I will now step down from my soapbox and get ready to cheer on the US this Sunday.

Hello, my name is Erin and I’m a Twitter douche bag. I’m glad to finally get that off my chest. I don’t like it, but when I break it down I am not sure how to avoid it. Don’t nod your head in judgment, odds are you are a Twitter DB too.

To determine if you are you need to answer this seemingly simple question: Who are you tweeting for? In the chart below, I break it down to three main (and most popular) options – 1) Friends 2) Industry Peers and 3) Yourself. You may think the answer is easy, but before you lock in your final answer, look at your last 20 tweets, I bet it is not that black & white. If you are like me, you live in a chaotic gray area when it comes to your digital persona. Especially in the advertising and marketing industry, the notion of professional and personal separation doesn’t exist. Sure, you can keep some things separate, but it’s not easy. You are expected to fan, follow and like your company’s clients (and their competitors), you have your own interests, you post and share at all hours of the day (and night), you have opinions about what is going on in the world around you. And before you know it, there it is, all on the same screen, your personal interests right there next to that article about paid, earned and owned media. You can’t be more than one without being a DB. Now really, where do you fall on the chart?

Now, ask yourself this question: What are you willing to give up based on your choices?  Are you willing to create a strategy for your personal brand on Twitter? Choose your target audience? Determine if followers, @s and RTs are reason you are there? and stick to it? Play a few scenarios out: You convince your friends to start using twitter, but those that don’t get or care what you do for work get annoyed when you start posting the latest article on how brand managers debate content creation on the latest panel. Or you make a coveted “Smart Industry Peeps” list by someone you admire (virtually). Only to be removed from that list or unfollowed once you post 5 comments about how you can’t believe that the girl you went to high school with is still working at the bar in your hometown. Or, even better, you post a politically charged link mocking George Bush and Sarah Palin.

It’s true, like brands that are getting into social (see how I brought it back around to work?), I can’t please everyone, and short of creating two Twitter accounts, I will be unfollowed and it hurts a little. Personally, I try to separate super political polarizing opinions in different blogs, make it pretty clear that my Facebook page is more personal interests and stream of everything (and friend at your own risk), my twitter account is a place for everything to coexist. Both blogs send links to my Twitter account, I like the Red Wings after I share the latest infographic about how twitter employees use twitter. Because of that,  I will cross that line. It may be too many tweets in a short period of time, it may be too many tweets that aren’t industry related and/or funny enough. And, because I enjoy knowing who I have pushed too far, I will continue to use QWITTER. A service that sends me a weekly email telling me who has unfollowed me the last tweet I sent before it happened.

So I own it, I know my personal and professional versions of me are more similar than different and I thank the followers who can see through the noise and hopefully find something I say useful/entertaining once in a while and/or ignore me without officially unfollowing me. Because I really don’t have the energy or time to build another twitter account. Oh, and you can follow me @schmogel.

I love advertising- almost too much. I love figuring out how a brand can fit into an experience vs. around it, or even worse, bastardizing it. I understand and respect the need for old school push advertising to tell people what they need to know (in those cases, I hope the messaging and standalone experience are good).  I have also seen how the inability to approach things differently and fall back on old ways can destroy what the people love and engage with.

It is the reason why, I love this story – from TheWeek.com:  Irony Alert: Mad Men Delayed until 2012… over advertising dispute.

It’s not just advertising, it cuts deeper. It is a case of integrity of the show/vision/concept hit head-on by the revenue police/turnip squeezers.  And in my opinion, very short-sighted turnip squeezers. The big asks, that appear to be the sticking point:

- Remove 2 minutes of show so more ads can be jammed in

- More product placement (they already do quite a bit)

- Cut 2 cast members to keep costs down

Where is a mediator when you need one. There has to be a solution that makes the writers and the (cable) network happy while still offering brands meaningful ways to wide the wave of success Mad Men has. Or it’s a case of old school thinking- convention tells AMC that it’s one of the longest running cable shows out there and the numbers say the run is almost over, now is the time to squeeze as much money as we can, consumer/viewer experience be damned.   I hope they figure this out without losing a writer or characters (until the time is right in the story).

My advice to networks (who are still a very important part of experiences and will be until they become too easy to side-step): Stop forcing appointment viewing, stop shoving more noise into the mix, and stop trying to squeeze the life out of everything so early.

(thank you @ghammy for sharing).

I hate everything (every little thing) about the pretentious, over-priced, self-indulging campaign for Fage yogurt.  It actually makes me angry when it comes on. I may stop watching Food Network until the campaign ends. Watch it first, but be warned it may invoke unexpected anger, and then I will explain the 5 reasons I hate it.

Now, simmer down. And see if you agree with my rationale.

1. It is pronounced fa-yeh. As obnoxious as that is, fine, it’s a 50 year old brand that isn’t changing it’s name now. But it’s new to the US. One would think the agency and brand manager would seek a campaign that educated consumers about the brand, the name, the product. How does one know how to pronounce the name? not from the video, not from the missing URL in the video (see #2), and not from conversations they hope to have started- if there are people who like the brand (despite the campaign) and are talking about it, odds are they are pronouncing it incorrectly.

2. A classic case of creative developed by a self-proclaimed visionary stuck in an agency that wishes they were doing something else with their lives (like making movies most people won’t get). It’s 2011 and somehow a brand was convinced to spend a lot of money on a video they were told was visually stunning, broke through the clutter, elevated the brand to a premium level, made yogurt art… whatever load of bullshit they bought, the place in which the client was mislead (and in my opinion the agency failed) was when they convinced the client that you don’t need to make it easy to get more information. Someone lied to the brand/client and told them that people would seek them out after such strong and compelling copy coupled with the visuals. A cow shaking it’s head in milk + the plain manifesto = a consumer jumping online to find out what this amazing commercial is for.  The problem, you can barely read the name on the label, there is no URL, no Facebook URL, no way of even knowing that it’s yogurt. Hey, old school creatives- get over yourself, and thinking that adding Facebook, URLs and the like are beneath you. Which brings me to #3

3. It’s Greek Yogurt. Not just yogurt, not sour cream, not ice cream, not anything else that a consumer is forced into guessing. I like Greek yogurt. It is becoming a trend in the US. Why, for the love of everything holy, is Fage wasting money running :60 second spots that don’t mention it is Greek yogurt (or even a yogurt), the reasons why you should care, the benefits of it (there are health and taste benefits), the fact it was born in Athens, where to find it, that it is a 50 year old brand…or at least where you can go to get that information?

4. The copy & casting. I have written before about the importance of casting the right people, in this case it is about casting the right voice. Go to the website (I’ll give you the link, since the video and YouTube page don’t tell you how to get there - FageUSA.com – the site and the Facebook content are so stereotypically created for “the grocery shopping mom with 2.5 kids and/or the single yoga enthusiast.”  The plain manifesto (as I am calling it) is read by a man with a tone that enrages me. I don’t know why, but it does. Maybe because it sounds like a Levi’s rip-off and I love that spot. And the copy is unrelatable and misguided. Hey Fage, you are yogurt. You are not changing the world., saving the children or creating a movement to make the world a happier place to live- bring it down a notch.

5. And finally, I hate this because of the :60 second spots, the over-priced video, the campaign the brand manager purchased. It makes me mad when brands spend their money in foolish ways – and furious when agencies convince them to.

Note: When I wrote this, I didn’t know what agency did this campaign, I refused to google it. But I have since googled it. It makes me even more upset. They know better and have done better. [disclaimer: i work in advertising. at an agency. not at the agency that did this campaign.]

Confession time. I follow Boy Meets World on Facebook (yes, they do have a Facebook page). Who doesn’t love reliving tender moments between Topanga and Cory?  You could imagine my excitement when I saw the announcement that season 5 was coming out on DVD (she types sarcastically). A few facts…

1. Boy Meets World had 7 seasons.
2. Boy Meets World debuted in 1993
3. Boy Meets World ended in 1999
4. People who are in High School today were not born yet
5. To buy season 1-4 new it will cost you $20. Used $10.

Someone explain the DVD ecosystem to me? Why are shows like this wasting time on physical DVDs? Why wouldn’t ABC go down the path of upping the streaming content available on their site? Distribute it to other sites? Negotiate a deal with streaming site? Sell it on iTunes? Someone please show me research in which consumers are asking for physical DVDs of old shows and I will listen, but for now I am not buying that this is a good business decision or want from consumers. They may want and watch the content, but not as a DVD.

Although, I did hear Netflix is looking for content.

Look at these solution orientated students…  Think about how much toilet paper/paper towel will be saved by not taking the extra piece to open the door. Not to mention, all the germs floating around in the petri dish we call public restrooms. http://www.toepener.com/