Wednesday, April 30, 2008

How many of your clients are brand managers at Tab.®


Glenn, a friend and gifted creative, has listed Brand Manager at Tab® as his job title on his Facebook profile. When I asked him about it, he replied thusly:...that is just an old joke between me and someone who used to be (or still is) at Og****...the Brand Manager at Tab, his job is to sell less Tab every year than the year prior."

Like any good joke or observation, this one resonates because it has a foundation in the truth. Here it is 2008 and a majority of clients actually still believe "new media" is really new. It isn't. For a large percentage of consumers, the internet, mobile and the like are no longer new. They are vital forms of communication. Yet for the most part, marketing dollars are still allocated as if it is 1985.

"I'll have another Tab."

This is about clients who continue to lose market-share but continue to test their advertising to make sure it tests well. It tests well, yippee! But does it work? That doesn't matter--it performed to our metrics.

"I'll have another Tab."

This is about agencies that produce formulaic commercials with self-proclaimed celebrities that communicate nothing except that those self-proclaimed celebrities are ever-richer (and increasingly less relevant.)

"I'll have another Tab."

I could go on and on. And so can you.

Drink up. And have another Tab.

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