Archive for October, 2007

The CEO of Sprint Nextel , Gary Forsee, resigned today because of the mobile carrier’s appalling loss of subscribers and financial performance.

Why is this significant? Because in an industry that is probably the very worst at customer service, Sprint Nextel is the real pits, and the man who let this happen has finally paid the price. As we explain in the chapter in Punk Marketing called ‘The Captive Consumer,’ companies that spend all of their efforts enticing customers in with slick marketing and empty promises and then treat them like burping pigs when they’ve signed a contract with them, will suffer in the long term. The threat of early termination fees (the money a customer has to spend to be released from their contract when they realized they’ve been duped) doesn’t create customer loyalty, it just adds to the bad taste in the mouth that poor aftersales support leaves.

According to Sprint Nextel they expect to report a net loss of 337,000 monthly postpaid subscribers in the recently completed 3rd quarter. That is indeed ‘major fleeing.’ Sprint, like most of the other carriers, just havent learned the lessons of other industries who also thought that the power lay with the corporation not the consumer. Think the airlines, for instance, many of whom have suffered as customers said “pah!” to the accumulated and unused frequent flier miles in their accounts and went to JetBlue or Southwest for their friendlier service.

So, Gary, we wish you farewell. And to Sprint we say, wake up and hear the ring tone. Finally get your act together and recognize that you are in the service industry. In other words treat your customers as people you don’t want to lose. Oh, and try and find a way to reduce your staff turnover in your stores. Hmm, wonder if those things are connected?

No one needs another blogger to bemoan the state of advertising.

But…

I just took a fast drive through Manhattan on my way out of Dodge and couldn’t help but notice yet again how the taglines of the expensive billboards, standing proud in that big bold type, are all afterthoughts. Paid for, yes, thought about - no.

Everything I saw was either totally unoriginal or purely stupid. So: Is anyone thinking?

Take the “Love Blows” billboard for new Hollywood studio release Heartbreak Kid, a wholly unnecessary Ben Stiller vehicle/remake of the Elaine May classic (no need for quotes). And the “Love Blows” billboard for the equally as stupid Dane Cook/Jessica Alba snorer Good Luck Chuck.

Come to think of it, I have seen those two words — blows being the latest gotta have variety on “sucks” — featuredin no less than five TV and movie shows as their whole campaign recently. What’s this means? The ad agency never leaves the office or pays attention to the world around them or they’re underestimating the billboard-viewing public like never before.

Ah for more examples of repeat advertising see the sidebar on those five “Like No Other” campaigns documented in the Punk Marketing book.

Alas it’s not only well-worn, badly-timed cliches. There are also senseless companies like Kenneth Cole who get all socially responsible in their outdoor ads–when all we want from them is a comfy, classy pair of shoes! What dumb ass ad guy told Ken Cole senior execs it was time for them to do WAR messages (”The AwearNess Campaign,” I kid you not) rather than tell the public about their latest brand extension!

The last headshake for today was for Manhattan MiniStorage, another conglomerate like above who for whatever reason wants us to believe they are another down-home local Mom and Pop. First, there are no more of those, so stop the posturing and get all corporate on us. Second, the ads they toss around town are trying so darn hard to be Gawker-like cool, it appears that their ad agency has forgotten what they do: give folks a place to toss their porn between relationships!

First ad up was, “Your closet is so shallow it makes Paris look smart.” Huh?

Followed by, “Your closer’s scarier than Bush’s agenda.”

Then…I’m embarrassed to be replaying it. I’m not even certain they know what they did. See, like Ken C before them, they have a need to be overt about their politics. So MMS has gone mad touting: “Your Closet Space Is Shrinking as Fast as Her Right To Choose.”

Subtle, not? Yes, the Justices are gunning for a woman’s right, we get it. There’s nothing wrong with trying to bash any political party at this point in the calendar. Yet there’s a problem, one that will not get them any mini clients. Alongside those brash words is a simple wire hanger.

It is kinda possible that the iconic hanger is their standard trademarked logo and they neglected the symbolism. But I’m pretty sure someone said “Ah let’s do it!”

A nicely-done caricature of the Supremes would have gotten the point across bette, and you know that would have taken more time.

And just a wee bit more thought.

Welcome to the world of slopping, tacky advertising - the late 2007 edition.

Three interesting stories that caught my eye in the last few days:

1. From today’s Los Angeles Times - now that Neilsen is for the first time ever measuring ratings not just of TV that people watch when it is broadcast but also the shows that people “time shift” - er, that means use a Digital Video Recorder to record - shows that might otherwise have been a ratings flop and be taken off the screens, might get some good scores because people are watching them later. So it’s like a stay of execution! Cool.

2. From today’s Ad Age - Rio De Janeiro has decided to ban outdoor advertising, as other big Brazilian city Sao Paulo has done, as a way to reduce “visual pollution.” Other cities around the world have taken similar steps and Ad Age asks if this may be the shape of things to come. I sort of hope so.

3. From every media source everywhere last week - Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook.com, is thinking of selling 5% of the social networking website he founded for a price that would value the whole thing at about $10 billion. And Zuckerberg is still in his early 20’s. Wow, he’s my hero: not just for creating a great website that people have been drawn to in their millions, but for not selling to Yahoo! last year for a measly billion dollars.

What do all of these stories have in common, I hear you ask?

Well, clearly the shift from old intrusive media formats to new ones that rely on consumers coming to them and not the other way around, contniues. Old media - like big billboards that shout a simplistic mesage in big letters - are a dying breed. Consumers have the controls and are consuming content when they want it, not when it’s fed to them. DVR’s alow them to watch the TV shows they like when they’re good a ready, not when the broadcasters tell them too. Facebook understands the value of loyal consumers that want to hang out with their friends online.

For people who don’t see one another that often and hate the formality of occasional emails or phone calls, Facebook is a fun and effective ways to stay in touch. For marketers and content creators - for they are one - to succeed they need to recognize thhe shift in power from corporation to consumer and come up with the goods that people want. Sounds obvious, but there’s a whole lot of feet-dragging going on.