TGIF

Bonehead move of the century.  Avis dumping their iconic, "We Try Harder".

Best explanation of the car buying public from twitter guy wildernessron.  "Car buyers don't buy a car because its the end of the month or to win a fishing rod nor do they buy because of a limited time offer.  Car buyers buy because the NEED a car when they NEED a car."

Best TV ad this week for Carlton Draught.



And we exit with the great Dobie Gray.





Happy Labour Day Weekend.

MYTMC Is A Really Cool Coupon App

I will admit that I have bought those coupon books and they end up collecting dust.

MYTMC is a simple to use FREE mobile phone app that gives you fantastic coupons/deals from local and national businesses around your geographic location and its all right there at your finger tips because as we all know, that mobile device is like a body part.  Get the app, you won't be disappointed.

But they also deserve cudos for a great promotion to help launch the app as they have teamed up with some former Big Brother stars in Evel Dick, Porche and Janelle and are throwing a season finale party with these three stars and the only way you can attend is download the app.

It is a great example of using local radio and social media for the event.  Check out their facebook page.

When The Actor Insert Works

TV is still one of the kings of media.  Even with all the doom and gloom of the internet, DVR's and the likes predicting the death of TV, viewership is up.

Which brings me to the ads.

When ads are produced locally, you get stuff like this.



Kernhill bombarded TV and also had a media mix that included radio.  The owner starred in his own ads and  voiced his own radio ads, become a local celebrity and sold a ton of furniture.  And what you see and hear was written by him.

Now take this ad.



There was likely an ad agency involved and a pretty good production budget.  
I would love to have heard the creative folk sell the idea to the client of having the the two insert actors singing the lines?

I have a bridge I need sold.

What Facebook Likes Are Worth

I just read an article in Business Insider on what a facebook like is worth.

It is talking about a study conducted earlier called the facebook factor and four companies are listed.  Best Buy, Coke, Walmart and Blackberry.

"Someone who Likes Best Buy on Facebook is going to spend, on average, over $200 more per year PLUS are nearly 100% more likely to recommend Best Buy to a friend or relative".

Really.  These studies are always about companies that spend a gazillion dollars in advertising.  And in this case you notice two of the four companies are on life support?
I wish these social media experts, would give it a rest already.

Let's see how facebook likes work for Afansiev Shoe Service.

Yada Yada Yada

Call me jaded.

Because I pay homage to Seinfeld in this blog, there is the Yada Yada Yada episode where instead of finishing sentences, they yada yada yada them.

Back to my jadedness.

I wish some of the news today was yada yada yada’d over.

Prince William is naked…yada yada yada

Katie Holmes is getting $400,000 in child support, yada yada yada.

Tom Cruise couldn’t pay restaurant tab..yada yada yada.

Who really gives a flying…yada yada yada!

Seagram's Saving A Buck

Wooden coasters all the way from China?

Really... Seagrams... Really?

Can I Check Your Coat And Smartphone?

A restaurant in Los Angeles is offering a discount if you check your smartphone. 

I wish some businesses would take it one step further and not allow their employees to use their phones while working. 

A friend shared a recent incident at a popular restaurant.  The server was busy multi tasking.  Serving them while checking his iPhone.  It was pointed out that the server was very rude and the server answered back that his boss wanted all the servers to be checking social media sites to make sure there wasn't anything negative being said about the restaurant.  

Here is what my friend wrote on the back of the bill.

My Social Media Paradox

Bob Hoffman The Ad Contrarian on social media. 

My Social Media Paradox

Another Reason Apple Is Cool

I downloaded my first book to the Kindle app on my Ipad.

It also is downloaded on my iphone.  I was waiting for a client yesterday so I thought I would read a few pages on my iphone.

This morning I opened my kindle app on my ipad to read the book.  This message displayed.

Apple is very cool.

Thanks Amazon

Tried to order Bob Hoffman,  The Ad Contrarian's new book. 

Who knew Amazon USA operates independently with Amazon Canada.  Here is their email message back to me.

"Thank you for writing to us at Amazon.ca.


I have checked your order #D01-xxxx and found that it was placed with our partner site Amazon.com.

Our international web sites operate independently of each other and don't share order information, so we are unable to assist you regarding the order placed with Amazon.com.

Therefore, due to the nature of your inquiry, you will need to contact our partner site Amazon.com regarding the order placed with them.

You can contact them at the following URL:"

Just wondering Amazon, but couldn't you just help facilitate this order?

I thought that was the whole purpose of not having bricks and mortar?

Bob Hoffman, The Ad Contrarian on Social Media

"I think social media can provide value. The problem is there’s a lunatic fringe in the social media community that wants us to believe that social media is the answer to all problems, that it has “changed everything”, that advertising, marketing, television, and everything else is “dead”, that social media can give us a 4-hour erection and cure athlete’s foot. In the eyes of intelligent and thoughtful marketers these maniacs are viewed as snake oil salesmen. Worst of all, these are the people who the press loves to quote. It’s doing a lot of damage to the credibility of the industry."


You can read the rest of the article here at http://www.digiday.com/agencies/the-ad-contrarians-digital-reality-check/

TGIF

Thank God it's Friday.

I can check my brain at the door and watch Tiger Woods try to win the last PGA  of the year and my beloved Canada bring home more medals.

And I am looking forward to the first episode of Anger Management with Charlie Sheen Sunday after the closing of the Olympics.

I leave you with the two most absurd tag lines this week.

Both from car dealers.

1.  Employee pricing.
2.  We're not completely satisfied until you are completely satisfied.

Do You Get This TV Ad From Nissan

I have never been able to connect with Nissan's advertising.

I remember some print one of the dealers in town ran that featured beautiful people but never really had any continuity to the pictures and the message.

Last week one of their tv ads was a combination of Glee and the movie Grease.

But this one I just don't get.  I get that the car gets great gas mileage but a break up? Really?

An Example of Very Poor Customer Service

Below is an incident a colleague shared with me.  He was looking for some funny ads he heard a car dealership had and when he went to the website to search for them  he was greeted by a representative who engaged him in an online conversation.

Can you say lack of customer service 101?  And what is with "Alright"?


Catherine] May I help you find what you're looking for?


[Visitor] No thank you I was looking to find your ads..I was told they are funny

[Catherine] My name is Catherine. May I please have your name so I know who I’m chatting with?

[Visitor] Mario

[Catherine] Hello Mario! How may I help you?

[Visitor] Like I said I heard you had funny ads and I was looking on your website to see if they were there

[Catherine] Alright! Are you also planning on buying a vehicle soon?

[Visitor] Nno

[Catherine] Alright! Thank you for chatting with us. Please do not hesitate to contact us again if you need further assistance. Take care!

[Visitor] So because I am not buying a car, that's it? What would have been really cool is if you could have told me where I could find those ads.

[Catherine] Okay. I would need to verify that with our Internet Manager to be sure and get back to you with the details regarding any ads that we may have. Would that work for you, Mario?

[Visitor] No thats okay......and you are only doing it because of my remark...maybe next time you won't be so quick to dismiss someone..have a good day

[Catherine] Alright. I apologize for that. Would there be anything else I may help you with?

[Visitor] Catherine, I appreciate it your time. Have a good day.

[Catherine] You're most welcome, Mario. It’s been nice chatting with you. Thank you for contacting us. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact us again if we can be of further assistance. Have a great day ahead!

Does the QR Code Belong

I remember seeing one on the side of a bus.  Just wondering how that conversation was presented from the transit marketing department  to the client.

"Bus riders all have smartphones and while they are waiting for their bus they will have time to snap your code."

Right. 

The advertiser was an art gallery. 

QR codes are a waste of space, period.

Do you want more proof?  Saw this one.

This is a hand towel dispenser in a bathroom at a golf course.

Right.

Free For All Fridays

So now that the CBC has been awarded the 2014 and 2016 Olympic games, will they hire back Brian Williams?

Can we finally agree that QR codes are dead?

Spiderman in 3D was not worth the $18 ticket.

There should be more of Dave Randorf and less of Michael Landsberg on TSN's Olympic coverage.

Pop up ads on webpages are very annoying and please stop trying to hide the X to close the ad!

A New Twist On Direct Mail

Thanks to Ryan Caligiuri for this story on Direct Mail and Porche. 

Is it award winning creative or did it sell cars?

I like what Ryan ended this piece on.

"By the way, I didn't mention anything about the number of tweets, views on Vimeo or Likes on Facebook because those are all "nice-to-haves" and secondary metrics that are not directly tied to business growth. Yes I understand the importance of awareness and getting people talking, but try selling those intangibles to CEOs who respect their CIOs and CFOs more than their CMOs because they speak a clear language of X + Y = Z. In other words, CFOs and CIOs are ROI focused, where every dollar spent must have a measurable, quantifiable and positive impact on the company’s Profit and Loss statements."