Speeches vs. Pitches

Today in Account Leadership, we had an interesting discussion on speeches vs. pitches. Why is it that when speaking to clients we have to do it without notes to be believable, but that presidential candidates can read speeches that they've never read before off a teleprompter and still seem familiar? How do notes sell or not sell an idea?

Our conclusions were:

1. Different audience and presenter expectations
2. Tradition / convention
3. Belief in the product / idea being sold
4. Viewers vs. listeners

Charles Hall Thoughts

In class today, we discussed our recently finished projects. He had a few comments that I hope to remember.

1. It's a different world. That should show in your work.
2. Take risks in your work. Take risks in your life.
3. Dare to fail and not be afraid of that failure.
4. There is more out there than what's expected.
5. It is a bigger risk not to take a risk.
6. Your goal cannot be to create ads, it must be to create culture.

Volvo's Heartbeat Sensor

Is the world such a scary place that we need to have heartbeat sensors attached to our car keys to have upfront knowledge about people lurking by our cars?

I saw a Volvo commercial last night that spent their 30 seconds speaking only about the key. No car features, no open road shots, no shiny paint jobs. Just a small and frightened looking woman clutching her ominously flashing Volvo key.

I can't decide whether I think this is brilliant or just a cruel way to capitalize on the fears of overimaginative women. Either way, it's getting lots of attention. A Google search for 'volvo heartbeat key' produced 47,200 results.

Job Description

In my Advanced Portfolio Development class, we were asked to create our own job descriptions. Here is my first stab at what I want to be and where I want to work.

Job Description: Strategic Planner

The job of Strategic Planner changes from agency to agency. You may be called a Context Planner, Consumer Context Planner, Account Planner, Brand Strategist, Channel Strategist, etc, etc, etc. The list goes on and on, but there are some overarching qualifications. The best Planners are not afraid of all the change, but rather inspired by it. They are always reaching for the next level of involvement with and knowledge of the consumer, the brand, and the people they work with. And if the titles and the job descriptions have to change every year to keep up, that just adds to the excitement.

We Offer:
• An agency where planners are considered partners in the creative process/product
• A forward thinking attitude toward the use of media
• An agency large enough to afford quantitative resources, small enough to start out as a presence/personality instead of a number
• An environment where you will be encouraged to strike out on your own, but will still have active and interested mentors.

Responsibilities:
• Develop creative briefs that inspire and excite your creative team
• Be able to relate well with clients and truly take an interest in their business
• Work closely (and in harmony) with creatives, account teams and media teams
• Search for new media with which to effectively reach consumers
• Qualitative and Quantitative research and data interpretation
• Supplying communication strategies and insights for your accounts

Required Skills:
• Be actively interested in any brand that you are presented with
• Think outside the box and see things from many perspectives
• Skilled at long term planning
• An understanding of the difference between what people say and what they mean
• Willingness to take the leap from solid ground to more abstract ideas
• The ability to support and sell fresh, and possibly provocative, ideas
• Great people skills; in the office, on the street and with clients
• A talent for written and verbal expression
• “No Quiet Chairs”: The client is paying for everyone at the table, so we expect you to feel comfortable voicing your opinion
• Creative thinking skills
• Flexibility; a love for project-based environments and sometimes-odd hours

Orville Redenbacher

I saw this ad yesterday on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, and liked it so much that I stopped to take pictures with my phone. Unfortunately, my phone decided not to connect to my computer, so I'm borrowing my image from the JC Decaux website.


What a cool use of a bus shelter! A 3D ad, real popcorn, and a great extension of their TV ads.

False Advertising

From Wikipedia:

Advertising is regulated by the authority of the Federal Trade Commission, a United States administrative agency, to prohibit "unfair and deceptive acts or practices in commerce." While it makes laymen's sense to assume that being deceptive is being unfair, deceptiveness in practice has been treated separately by the FTC, leaving unfairness to refer only to other types. All commercial acts may be deceptive, not just advertising, but noncommercial activity such as advertising for political candidates is not subject to prosecution under the FTC Act. The 50 states have similar statutes, which generally are very similar to that of the FTC and in many cases copied so closely that they are known as "Little FTC Acts." While the terms "false" and "deceptive" are essentially the same for most, being deceptive is not the same as producing deception. What is illegal is the potential to deceive, which is interpreted to occur when consumers see the advertising to be stating to them, explicitly or implicitly, a claim that they may not realize is false and material. The latter means that the claim, if relied on for making a purchasing decision, is likely to be harmful by adversely affecting that decision. Evidence must be obtained for what consumers saw the ad saying, and for the materiality of that, and for the true facts about the advertised item, but no evidence is required that actual deception occurred, or that reliance occurred, or that the advertiser intended to deceive or knew that the claim was false.

The goal is prevention rather than punishment, reflecting the purpose of civil law in setting things right rather than that of criminal law. The typical sanction is to order the advertiser to stop its illegal acts, or to include disclosure of additional information that serves to avoid the chance of deception, but there are no fines or prison time except for the infrequent instances when an advertiser refuses to stop despite being ordered to do so.

I don't think that this counts as false advertising, as any rational person wouldn't think that a new Volkswagen is being sold for $1. I also don't think that their intent was to defraud customers.

I really would like a $1 VW. Sadly, they didn't respond to my email inquiry about the car.

The case for proofreading

Did "Many Islands, Low Fares" really need to be abbreviated as MILF? If they really wanted an abbreviation, perhaps they should have chosen a different sentence.