In the 1990′s, when James Carville was running the Clinton campaign for the President of the United States, he came up with the famous slogan, “It’s The Economy Stupid”. The statement was a reminder for Carville to focus on the economy in the campaign and everything else will take care of itself.

My four-year old recently informed me that he did not like television commercials. I asked him if he would rethink that statement, because it is the television commercial that pays for the Lucky Charms that he destroys on a morning commute to the daycare. Nevertheless, in this era of instant gratification, my four-year old is used to watching Mickey Mouse or Handy Manny when he wants, how he wants and where he wants. The thought of what his expectations will be when he is fifteen is frightening. What my four-year old does like (for a very odd and unknown reason) is the Walgreens drug store. I have a sneaky suspicion it has to do with an occasional  trip or two  to Walgreens by me and the four-year old for various household products, where my son randomly seems to walk out with some worthless toy that will soon find its way into the recycle bin. Anyway, as we were watching one of the Disney shows on the “on-demand” option, the program went to a commercial break. My first instinct was to press fast forward before there was a complete meltdown by my impatient son. However, out of the blue and to my surprise, my son yelled out STOP!. After making sure my son did NOT sneak into the kitchen cabinet and eat all of the skittles and was on a temporary sugar high, I noticed his eyes were like lasers focused in on a commercial. The commercial was colorful and had images of candy for Valentines Day rolling across the screen. My son was pretending to eat the candy on the screen and asked me if we could go to the store to buy the candy. When I asked him where we would be going to pick up this candy, he looked at me like I was from another planet and pointed to the logo on the screen and said, “WALGREENS”. Now, that my friend, is hitting the right target with the right message at the right time. It is the MESSAGE stupid.

My four-year old recently informed me that he did not like television commercials. I asked him if he would rethink that statement, because it is the television commercial that pays for the Lucky Charms that he destroys on a morning commute to the daycare. Nevertheless, in this era of instant gratification, my four-year old is used to watching Mickey Mouse or Handy Manny when he wants, how he wants and where he wants. The thought of what his expectations will be when he is fifteen is frightening. What my four-year old does like (for a very odd and unknown reason) is the Walgreens drug store. I have a sneaky suspicion it has to do with an occasional  trip or two  to Walgreens by me and the four-year old for various household products, where my son randomly seems to walk out with some worthless toy that will soon find its way into the recycle bin. Anyway, as we were watching one of the Disney shows on the “on-demand” option, the program went to a commercial break. My first instinct was to press fast forward before there was a complete meltdown by my impatient son. However, out of the blue and to my surprise, my son yelled out STOP!. After making sure my son did NOT sneak into the kitchen cabinet and eat all of the skittles and was on a temporary sugar high, I noticed his eyes were like lasers focused in on a commercial. The commercial was colorful and had images of candy for Valentines Day rolling across the screen. My son was pretending to eat the candy on the screen and asked me if we could go to the store to buy the candy. When I asked him where we would be going to pick up this candy, he looked at me like I was from another planet and pointed to the logo on the screen and said, “WALGREENS”. Now, that my friend, is hitting the right target with the right message at the right time. It is the MESSAGE stupid.

The SuperBowl commercial with the most creativity!!!

Sent from my iPad

Sent from my iPad
]]> http://mediasalesjunkie.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/superbowl-ads/feed/ 0 mediasalesjunkie http://mediasalesjunkie.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/the-boot-camp/ http://mediasalesjunkie.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/the-boot-camp/#comments Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:32:38 +0000 mediasalesjunkie http://mediasalesjunkie.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/the-boot-camp/ ]]> I just attended a sales management training boot camp for managers in the broadcast industry. One of the many things that resonated with me ( amongst many others ) is prioritizing how we use our time in sales. This is not a breakthrough subject. But what I did learn is that sales people are constantly pressed for time, and as a result, are sometimes stretched to their limits. How do we tackle everything that comes our way in advertising sales? Brian Tracey says to “eat the ugliest frog” first. What does this mean? Tackle the most important and biggest problem/task first. If we do this, we will have more time in our day to be productive. These frogs/task should be decided on the night before your next work day. What does this allow us to do? Well, for starters it allows us to let go of the issue at an early point in your day, so you can move on to other clients. Secondly, by taking care and letting go, we are able to focus on being positive and focused account executives. In this boot camp, Jim Doyle mentions a quote by Keith Harrell, “You can’t jump a dead battery with a dead battery”.  If we don’t eat the frogs right away, we will be weighed down by things that will affect our attitude. And if our attitude is not red hot, how do we expect our clients to get fired up. But my take away from this session is that I need to do more things for myself outside of work to help me inside of work. I need to take more vacation days, exercise more, start meditation, take a break from technology (ooops, off to a bad star), etc. If I do these things for myself outside of work, then I will be ready to be a star performer at work. So, the sales manager boot camp has given me a mission to take care of me, so I can take care of others.  In the event of a loss of oxygen loss in an aircraft, the first rule of thumb is to give yourself oxygen, so you can assist others in need.  I am looking forward to this adjustment. I will let you know how this change helps me and ultimately helps others. Mediasalesjunkie
]]> http://mediasalesjunkie.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/the-boot-camp/feed/ 0 mediasalesjunkie http://mediasalesjunkie.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/the-polo-theory-2/ http://mediasalesjunkie.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/the-polo-theory-2/#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 05:28:03 +0000 mediasalesjunkie http://mediasalesjunkie.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/the-polo-theory-2/ ]]>

One of my pet peeves in advertising sales is when a current or potential client bases their business advertising decisions off their personal consumptions or habits. I frequently hear, “please run me in Wheel of Fortune because I never miss an episode”. Or,” I run in the Saturday sports section because I am always checking the high school football scores”. And my favorite is when someone tells me they have purchased advertising in a certain social publication, because they find themselves always reading it. Is this the best gauge for their business?

It is difficult to to break the news to a business owner that their media consumption habits are not exactly the best barometer for their business. The more important issue for your advertisers is the media consumption of their clients.

So how do you best approach your client with this information, so they will understand this important point?

I always give them the “Polo Theory” story.

The story talks about the owner of Goodyear Tires back in the 1960′s. He and his television account executive were talking about advertising schedules. During this time, Goodyear Tires was a major television client, and they were looking to expand the brand by targeting women. With the target market of women in mind, the account executive recommended to really concentrate the advertising efforts during the time period between 2pm and 4pm in the weekday afternoons. This strategy would reach the stay at home mothers and the part time working moms who would be getting home in the early afternoon with the kids. The account executive for the television station was sure that the owner of Goodyear would have a tough time finding an argument against this sound and accurate recommendation. However, the tv rep was absolutely stunned by the response from the Goodyear owner. He had leaned over the desk in the executive office of Goodyear and said, “Now why would anyone in their right mind advertise from 2pm and 4pm? Everyone knows this is Polo Time!”

The owner of Goodyear had the fortune of being able to play polo every work day between 2pm and 4pm. Because he was able to participate in his favorite hobby during this time period of the day, he assumed that everyone took part in something during this time. He mistakingly assumed that his daily habits were the same as the potential Goodyear consumer.

As silly as this may sound, “The Polo Theory” happens everyday. Business owners around the country make advertising decisions based on their assumptions and daily habits. The true focus should be on the habits of their target market. If the target market of your client’s business is Fortune 500 Presidents and CEO’s, then you may want to advise the client to stay away from the 2pm to 4pm time periods, because “everyone” will be playing polo.

It is difficult to to break the news to a business owner that their media consumption habits are not exactly the best barometer for their business. The more important issue for your advertisers is the media consumption of their clients.

So how do you best approach your client with this information, so they will understand this important point?

I always give them the “Polo Theory” story.

The story talks about the owner of Goodyear Tires back in the 1960′s. He and his television account executive were talking about advertising schedules. During this time, Goodyear Tires was a major television client, and they were looking to expand the brand by targeting women. With the target market of women in mind, the account executive recommended to really concentrate the advertising efforts during the time period between 2pm and 4pm in the weekday afternoons. This strategy would reach the stay at home mothers and the part time working moms who would be getting home in the early afternoon with the kids. The account executive for the television station was sure that the owner of Goodyear would have a tough time finding an argument against this sound and accurate recommendation. However, the tv rep was absolutely stunned by the response from the Goodyear owner. He had leaned over the desk in the executive office of Goodyear and said, “Now why would anyone in their right mind advertise from 2pm and 4pm? Everyone knows this is Polo Time!”

The owner of Goodyear had the fortune of being able to play polo every work day between 2pm and 4pm. Because he was able to participate in his favorite hobby during this time period of the day, he assumed that everyone took part in something during this time. He mistakingly assumed that his daily habits were the same as the potential Goodyear consumer.

As silly as this may sound, “The Polo Theory” happens everyday. Business owners around the country make advertising decisions based on their assumptions and daily habits. The true focus should be on the habits of their target market. If the target market of your client’s business is Fortune 500 Presidents and CEO’s, then you may want to advise the client to stay away from the 2pm to 4pm time periods, because “everyone” will be playing polo.