Can you say 'no'?
Not just no to creative people.
No to clients?
When they say they need an ad in two days, can you say, 'No, we need more time.'
When they say they have no money, can you say 'No. To do what you want to do, we need money.'
When they come back at the last minute with a complete change in mandatories and strictures, can you say, 'No. That's not acceptable.'
Mostly, can you say 'No. We are not a service. We make a product. A product that reflects your brand. If it looks cheap and slap-dash, you look cheap and slap-dash. No, I won't let that happen.'
No.
It might be the most important word in your vocabulary.
Can you say it?
Friday, September 9, 2016
Thursday, September 8, 2016
Big Data. Continued.
Recently I endured a forced watch of a 12-minute online video on the future of marketing in the machine-learning era.
To misquote American communist John Reed, "I have seen the future and it sucks."
You know phone trees?
Now imagine applying the same originality of thought and the same creativity that's behind phone tree scripts to marketing.
Imagine a world infected and infested with cliches. Cliche words. Cliche emotions. Cliche images.
This is world the world of machine-learning creativity will look like.
Almost 25 years ago conceptual artists Komar and Melamid, polled people in 11 countries to find out what they wanted in a work of art.
Essentially the same thing machine learning does when it works on a "creative" project.
Here is the data Komar and Melamid got from their polling in the US and here is America's "Most Wanted Painting."
Now we can do such research instantaneously and return results in a nano-second and turn those results into "advertising." And people will say it's wise and good and useful. Because, after all, it is based on Big Data.
List of USA Survey Results
What is your favorite color?Blue: 44%
Green: 12%
Red: 11%
Black: 4%
Purple/Violet: 4%
Brown: 3%
Pink/rose: 3%
Beige/Tan: 2%
White: 2%
Grey: 2%
Yellow: 2%
Mauve: 2%
Fushia: 2%
Maroon: 2%
How important is the appearance or design of the following products in your decision to purchase the product?
new car: very-59%, somewhat-28%, not very-8%, not at all-5%
underwear: very-19%, somewhat-28%, not very-32%, not at all-21%
tv set: very-33%, somewhat-40%, not very-19%, not at all-8%
winter coat: very-51%, somewhat-38%, not very-6%, not at all-4%
What is your 2nd favorite color?
Blue: 19%
Green: 17%
Red: 16%
Black: 7%
Purple/Violet: 5%
Brown: 4%
Pink/rose: 6%
Beige/Tan: 3%
White: 4%
Grey: 3%
Yellow: 3%
Mauve: 2%
"When you select pictures, photographs, or other pieces of art for your home, do you find you lean more toward modern or more toward traditional styles?"
modern: 25%
traditional: 64%
"If you had to choose from the following list, which type of art would you say you prefer?"
Asian: 6%
American: 49%
African: 8%
European: 30%
Which of the following statements applies to you more?
"When choosing pictures, photographs, or other art for my home, I usually try to select pieces that fit into the general decor of my home": 34%
"When choosing pictures, photographs, or other art for my home, I focus on whether or not I like the piece:" 60%
Would you say you prefer older objects or newer objects to collect or decorate you home?
older objects: 49%
newer objects: 31%
"Would you say that you prefer seeing paintings of wild animals, like lions, giraffes, or deer, or that you prefer seeing paintings of domestic animals, like dogs, cats or other pets?"
wild animals: 51%
domestic animals: 27%
"In general, would you rather see paintings of outdoor scenes or would you rather see paintings of indoor scenes?"
outdoors: 88%
indoors: 5%
Which of the following outdoor scenes appeals to you the most?
Paintings of:
forests: 19%
"lakes, rivers, & oceans": 49%
fields & rural scenes: 18%
city: 3%
houses & buildings: 5%
Which season would you most like to see depicted in a painting?
winter: 15%
spring: 26%
summer: 16%
fall: 33%
Which of the following types of indoor scenes appeals to you most?
still life paintings of/domestic scenes with:
fruit: 7%
flowers: 21%
household objects: 6%
people: 37%
animals: 10%
Do you tend to prefer paintings that are related to religion or those that are not related to religion?
religious: 20%
non-religious: 63%
Which of the following statements is closest to your view?
"Paintings should ideally serve some higher goal, such as challenging their viewers to think about art or life in a different way than they normally do.": 19%
"Paintings don't necessarily have to teach us any lessons, but can just be something a person likes to look at.": 75%
Which of the following statements is closest to your view?
"I prefer paintings that are realistic-looking: the more they resemble a photograph, the better": 60%
"I prefer paintings that are different-looking if they're very realistic, I might as well be looking at a photography": 30%
"Do you prefer paintings that exaggerate the dimensions or reality of objects we already know, or ones that feature imaginary objects which have no connection to everyday life?"
exaggerations: 50%
imaginary: 36%
"Do you prefer seeing bold, stark designs or more playful, whimsical designs?"
"bold, stark": 39%
"playful, whimsical": 49%
Do you tend to favor paintings with sharp angles or ones with soft curves?
sharp angles: 22%
soft curves: 66%
"Which patterns do you like better: geometric patterns or more random uneven patterns?"
geometric: 30%
more random: 62%
"Do you like to see expressive brush-strokes on the canvas, or do you prefer that the surface of the canvas be smooth, more like a photograph?"
prefer seeing brush-strokes: 53%
prefer that canvas looks smooth: 35%
Do you like to see colors blend into each other or do you like it when different colors are kept apart?
blended: 68%
seperate: 18%
"Every color has a wide range of shades. Take the color blue, for example. An artist can use a bright, vibrant shade of blue, like a royal blue, a pale, muted shade of blue, like light blue, or a darker tone of blue, like dark or midnight blue. In general, which would you say that you prefer? when the artist uses more vibrant shades, paler shades, or darker shades of color?"
vibrant shades: 36%
paler shades: 32%
darker shades: 22%
"In general, do you enjoy paintings that have a more serious or a more festive mood?"
serious: 37%
festive: 49%
"And how about the painting itself - do you like it to be busy and contain lots of people or objects, or do you like it to be as simple as possible?"
busy: 17%
simple: 71%
How about the size of paintings: do you prefer larger paintings or smaller paintings?
larger: 41%
smaller: 34%
dishwasher size: 67%
full-size refridgerator: 17%
full wall: 11%
"19"" television": 69%
a magazine: 24%
paperback book: 40%
"Some paintings are of famous historical figures and others are of more ordinary people. Do you generally prefer paintings of famous people, or ones of more ordinary paintings."
famous people: 1%
ordinary people: 4%
makes no difference: 50%
"If you prefer famous people, do you prefer figures from a long time ago, like Lincoln or Jesus, or more recent figures, like John F. Kennedy or Elvis Presley?"
historical figures: 56%
more recent figures: 14%
"Do you prefer paintings which are predominantly of children, of women, or of men, or doesn't it matter?"
Children: 11%
Women: 6%
Men: 2%
Doesn't matter: 77%
"Thinking back to the paintings of people that you have like in the past, for the most part were the figure working, at leisure, or were they posed portraits?"
working: 23%
at leisure: 43%
portraits: 27%
"Which do you think you like better, a painting of one person or of a group of people?"
one person: 34%
group: 48%
"And from what you've seen, would you say that you prefer paintings in which the person or people are nude, partially clothed or fully clothed?"
nude: 3%
partially clothed: 13%
fully clothed: 68%
If you were given the choice of a gift - a sum of money or a piece of art that you genuinely like and which was of equal value to the money, which would you choose?
art: 35%
money: 57%
Which one of the following would be most important to you in deciding how much money you would spend on a painting?
the size of the piece: 3%
the fame of the artist: 7%
the medium, such as oil or watercolor: 5%
the degree to which you like the painting: 62%
whether you think it will increase in value: 16%
What is the most amount of money you would consider spending on a piece of art you really like?
$25-50: 20%
$50-100: 27%
$200-500: 28%
$500-1000: 9%
$1000-3000: 3%
over $3000: 5%
"For each of the following names, indicate if your impressions of that artist's work are very favorable, favorable, or very unfavorable. Some of these artists are not very well known, so if you have never heard of someone, or don't know enough about their work to have an opinion, just say so."
Pablo Picasso: vry fav-20%, fav-45%, unfav-14%, vry unfav-5%, never hrd-5%, don't know-11%
Norman Rockwell: vry fav-43%, fav-38%, unfav-5%, vry unfav-2%, never hrd-6%, don't know-6%
Jackson Pollack: vry fav-4%, fav-11%, unfav-6%, vry unfav-1%, never hrd-49%, don't know-28%
Salvador Dalivry: vry fav-9%, fav-23%, unfav-12%, vry unfav-5%, never hrd-31%, don't know-20%
Leroy Neimanvry: vry fav-5%, fav-20%, unfav-7%, vry unfav-3%, never hrd-40%, don't know-26%
Claude Monet: vry fav-24%, fav-33%, unfav-4%, vry unfav-1%, never hrd-21%, don't know-16%
Rembrandt: vry fav-32%, fav-46%, unfav-5%, vry unfav-1%, never hrd-6%, don't know-8%
Andy Warhol: vry fav-9%, fav-24%, unfav-21%, vry unfav-12%, never hrd-18%, don't know-16%
Georgia O'Keefe: vry fav-11%, fav-19%, unfav-3%, vry unfav-2%, never hrd-39%, don't know-26%
"If you could pick one type of person you'd most enjoy having dinner with, would you choose an artist, a television or movie actor, an author, or a sports star?"
artist: 14%
actor: 25%
author: 29%
sports star: 24%
"How often, on average, would you say that you go to art museums - more than two times a year, one or two times a year, less than once a year, or not at all?"
>2 times: 19%
1 or 2 times: 30%
<1 24="" br="" time:="">not at all: 24%
The following are some reasons people have given in the past as to why they do not go to art museums more often. For each reason, please tell whether it is a major reason why you do not go to musuems more often, a minor reason, or not a reason at all:
1. there is not an art museum in my area: major-34%, minor-15%, not-49%
2. I do not have enough spare time: major-44%, minor-19%, not-36%
3. I don't feel comfortable in art museums because I don't know alot about art: major-24%, minor-21%, not-54%
4. the cost of admission is too expensive: major-11%, minor-22%, not-62%
5. I simply don't enjoy looking at art: major-12%, minor-21%, not-65%
Would you favor or oppose spending more money in federal taxes than we do on the arts?
favor: 30%
oppose: 57%
not sure: 13%
Some works of art are displayed in public places. Do you think that average citizens should or should not have a say in determining which works of art are appropriate to be displayed in public?
should: 67%
should not: 27%
In which of these categories does you age fall?
under 25: 14%
25-29: 11%
30-34: 14%
35-39: 12%
40-44: 11%
45-49: 8%
50-54: 6%
55-59: 5%
60-64: 4%
65 and over: 13%
What was the last grade of school you completed?
grade school or less: 3%
some high school: 8%
high school: 31%
vo/tech: 4%
some college/2-yr degree: 24%
4-year college grad: 19%
post-graduate work: 10%
"When it comes to most political issues, do you think of yourself as a liberal, a conservative, or a moderate? If moderate, do you think of yourself as being closer to being liberal or being conservative?"
liberal: 30%
moerate-liberal: 8%
moderate: 14%
moderate-conservative: 11%
conservative: 36%
other: 2%
not sure: 5%
Which of the following income categories includes your total family income in 1992 before taxes?
"less than $20,000": 15%
"$20,000-$29,999": 19%
"$30,000-$39,999": 15%
"$40,000-$49,999": 13%
"$50,000-$74,999": 15%
"over $75,000": 9%
n/a: 13%
Gender
male: 47%
female: 53%
To misquote American communist John Reed, "I have seen the future and it sucks."
You know phone trees?
Now imagine applying the same originality of thought and the same creativity that's behind phone tree scripts to marketing.
Imagine a world infected and infested with cliches. Cliche words. Cliche emotions. Cliche images.
This is world the world of machine-learning creativity will look like.
Almost 25 years ago conceptual artists Komar and Melamid, polled people in 11 countries to find out what they wanted in a work of art.
Essentially the same thing machine learning does when it works on a "creative" project.
Here is the data Komar and Melamid got from their polling in the US and here is America's "Most Wanted Painting."
Now we can do such research instantaneously and return results in a nano-second and turn those results into "advertising." And people will say it's wise and good and useful. Because, after all, it is based on Big Data.
List of USA Survey Results
What is your favorite color?Blue: 44%
Green: 12%
Red: 11%
Black: 4%
Purple/Violet: 4%
Brown: 3%
Pink/rose: 3%
Beige/Tan: 2%
White: 2%
Grey: 2%
Yellow: 2%
Mauve: 2%
Fushia: 2%
Maroon: 2%
How important is the appearance or design of the following products in your decision to purchase the product?
new car: very-59%, somewhat-28%, not very-8%, not at all-5%
underwear: very-19%, somewhat-28%, not very-32%, not at all-21%
tv set: very-33%, somewhat-40%, not very-19%, not at all-8%
winter coat: very-51%, somewhat-38%, not very-6%, not at all-4%
What is your 2nd favorite color?
Blue: 19%
Green: 17%
Red: 16%
Black: 7%
Purple/Violet: 5%
Brown: 4%
Pink/rose: 6%
Beige/Tan: 3%
White: 4%
Grey: 3%
Yellow: 3%
Mauve: 2%
"When you select pictures, photographs, or other pieces of art for your home, do you find you lean more toward modern or more toward traditional styles?"
modern: 25%
traditional: 64%
"If you had to choose from the following list, which type of art would you say you prefer?"
Asian: 6%
American: 49%
African: 8%
European: 30%
Which of the following statements applies to you more?
"When choosing pictures, photographs, or other art for my home, I usually try to select pieces that fit into the general decor of my home": 34%
"When choosing pictures, photographs, or other art for my home, I focus on whether or not I like the piece:" 60%
Would you say you prefer older objects or newer objects to collect or decorate you home?
older objects: 49%
newer objects: 31%
"Would you say that you prefer seeing paintings of wild animals, like lions, giraffes, or deer, or that you prefer seeing paintings of domestic animals, like dogs, cats or other pets?"
wild animals: 51%
domestic animals: 27%
"In general, would you rather see paintings of outdoor scenes or would you rather see paintings of indoor scenes?"
outdoors: 88%
indoors: 5%
Which of the following outdoor scenes appeals to you the most?
Paintings of:
forests: 19%
"lakes, rivers, & oceans": 49%
fields & rural scenes: 18%
city: 3%
houses & buildings: 5%
Which season would you most like to see depicted in a painting?
winter: 15%
spring: 26%
summer: 16%
fall: 33%
Which of the following types of indoor scenes appeals to you most?
still life paintings of/domestic scenes with:
fruit: 7%
flowers: 21%
household objects: 6%
people: 37%
animals: 10%
Do you tend to prefer paintings that are related to religion or those that are not related to religion?
religious: 20%
non-religious: 63%
Which of the following statements is closest to your view?
"Paintings should ideally serve some higher goal, such as challenging their viewers to think about art or life in a different way than they normally do.": 19%
"Paintings don't necessarily have to teach us any lessons, but can just be something a person likes to look at.": 75%
Which of the following statements is closest to your view?
"I prefer paintings that are realistic-looking: the more they resemble a photograph, the better": 60%
"I prefer paintings that are different-looking if they're very realistic, I might as well be looking at a photography": 30%
"Do you prefer paintings that exaggerate the dimensions or reality of objects we already know, or ones that feature imaginary objects which have no connection to everyday life?"
exaggerations: 50%
imaginary: 36%
"Do you prefer seeing bold, stark designs or more playful, whimsical designs?"
"bold, stark": 39%
"playful, whimsical": 49%
Do you tend to favor paintings with sharp angles or ones with soft curves?
sharp angles: 22%
soft curves: 66%
"Which patterns do you like better: geometric patterns or more random uneven patterns?"
geometric: 30%
more random: 62%
"Do you like to see expressive brush-strokes on the canvas, or do you prefer that the surface of the canvas be smooth, more like a photograph?"
prefer seeing brush-strokes: 53%
prefer that canvas looks smooth: 35%
Do you like to see colors blend into each other or do you like it when different colors are kept apart?
blended: 68%
seperate: 18%
"Every color has a wide range of shades. Take the color blue, for example. An artist can use a bright, vibrant shade of blue, like a royal blue, a pale, muted shade of blue, like light blue, or a darker tone of blue, like dark or midnight blue. In general, which would you say that you prefer? when the artist uses more vibrant shades, paler shades, or darker shades of color?"
vibrant shades: 36%
paler shades: 32%
darker shades: 22%
"In general, do you enjoy paintings that have a more serious or a more festive mood?"
serious: 37%
festive: 49%
"And how about the painting itself - do you like it to be busy and contain lots of people or objects, or do you like it to be as simple as possible?"
busy: 17%
simple: 71%
How about the size of paintings: do you prefer larger paintings or smaller paintings?
larger: 41%
smaller: 34%
dishwasher size: 67%
full-size refridgerator: 17%
full wall: 11%
"19"" television": 69%
a magazine: 24%
paperback book: 40%
"Some paintings are of famous historical figures and others are of more ordinary people. Do you generally prefer paintings of famous people, or ones of more ordinary paintings."
famous people: 1%
ordinary people: 4%
makes no difference: 50%
"If you prefer famous people, do you prefer figures from a long time ago, like Lincoln or Jesus, or more recent figures, like John F. Kennedy or Elvis Presley?"
historical figures: 56%
more recent figures: 14%
"Do you prefer paintings which are predominantly of children, of women, or of men, or doesn't it matter?"
Children: 11%
Women: 6%
Men: 2%
Doesn't matter: 77%
"Thinking back to the paintings of people that you have like in the past, for the most part were the figure working, at leisure, or were they posed portraits?"
working: 23%
at leisure: 43%
portraits: 27%
"Which do you think you like better, a painting of one person or of a group of people?"
one person: 34%
group: 48%
"And from what you've seen, would you say that you prefer paintings in which the person or people are nude, partially clothed or fully clothed?"
nude: 3%
partially clothed: 13%
fully clothed: 68%
If you were given the choice of a gift - a sum of money or a piece of art that you genuinely like and which was of equal value to the money, which would you choose?
art: 35%
money: 57%
Which one of the following would be most important to you in deciding how much money you would spend on a painting?
the size of the piece: 3%
the fame of the artist: 7%
the medium, such as oil or watercolor: 5%
the degree to which you like the painting: 62%
whether you think it will increase in value: 16%
What is the most amount of money you would consider spending on a piece of art you really like?
$25-50: 20%
$50-100: 27%
$200-500: 28%
$500-1000: 9%
$1000-3000: 3%
over $3000: 5%
"For each of the following names, indicate if your impressions of that artist's work are very favorable, favorable, or very unfavorable. Some of these artists are not very well known, so if you have never heard of someone, or don't know enough about their work to have an opinion, just say so."
Pablo Picasso: vry fav-20%, fav-45%, unfav-14%, vry unfav-5%, never hrd-5%, don't know-11%
Norman Rockwell: vry fav-43%, fav-38%, unfav-5%, vry unfav-2%, never hrd-6%, don't know-6%
Jackson Pollack: vry fav-4%, fav-11%, unfav-6%, vry unfav-1%, never hrd-49%, don't know-28%
Salvador Dalivry: vry fav-9%, fav-23%, unfav-12%, vry unfav-5%, never hrd-31%, don't know-20%
Leroy Neimanvry: vry fav-5%, fav-20%, unfav-7%, vry unfav-3%, never hrd-40%, don't know-26%
Claude Monet: vry fav-24%, fav-33%, unfav-4%, vry unfav-1%, never hrd-21%, don't know-16%
Rembrandt: vry fav-32%, fav-46%, unfav-5%, vry unfav-1%, never hrd-6%, don't know-8%
Andy Warhol: vry fav-9%, fav-24%, unfav-21%, vry unfav-12%, never hrd-18%, don't know-16%
Georgia O'Keefe: vry fav-11%, fav-19%, unfav-3%, vry unfav-2%, never hrd-39%, don't know-26%
"If you could pick one type of person you'd most enjoy having dinner with, would you choose an artist, a television or movie actor, an author, or a sports star?"
artist: 14%
actor: 25%
author: 29%
sports star: 24%
"How often, on average, would you say that you go to art museums - more than two times a year, one or two times a year, less than once a year, or not at all?"
>2 times: 19%
1 or 2 times: 30%
<1 24="" br="" time:="">not at all: 24%
The following are some reasons people have given in the past as to why they do not go to art museums more often. For each reason, please tell whether it is a major reason why you do not go to musuems more often, a minor reason, or not a reason at all:
1. there is not an art museum in my area: major-34%, minor-15%, not-49%
2. I do not have enough spare time: major-44%, minor-19%, not-36%
3. I don't feel comfortable in art museums because I don't know alot about art: major-24%, minor-21%, not-54%
4. the cost of admission is too expensive: major-11%, minor-22%, not-62%
5. I simply don't enjoy looking at art: major-12%, minor-21%, not-65%
Would you favor or oppose spending more money in federal taxes than we do on the arts?
favor: 30%
oppose: 57%
not sure: 13%
Some works of art are displayed in public places. Do you think that average citizens should or should not have a say in determining which works of art are appropriate to be displayed in public?
should: 67%
should not: 27%
In which of these categories does you age fall?
under 25: 14%
25-29: 11%
30-34: 14%
35-39: 12%
40-44: 11%
45-49: 8%
50-54: 6%
55-59: 5%
60-64: 4%
65 and over: 13%
What was the last grade of school you completed?
grade school or less: 3%
some high school: 8%
high school: 31%
vo/tech: 4%
some college/2-yr degree: 24%
4-year college grad: 19%
post-graduate work: 10%
"When it comes to most political issues, do you think of yourself as a liberal, a conservative, or a moderate? If moderate, do you think of yourself as being closer to being liberal or being conservative?"
liberal: 30%
moerate-liberal: 8%
moderate: 14%
moderate-conservative: 11%
conservative: 36%
other: 2%
not sure: 5%
Which of the following income categories includes your total family income in 1992 before taxes?
"less than $20,000": 15%
"$20,000-$29,999": 19%
"$30,000-$39,999": 15%
"$40,000-$49,999": 13%
"$50,000-$74,999": 15%
"over $75,000": 9%
n/a: 13%
Gender
male: 47%
female: 53%
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Data, green beans and me.
Yesterday I wrote a short piece about our industry's latest sham--big data or as it is so often written, Big Data.
I warned, and will continue to warn, about those marketing mumbo-jumbo-ists who will proclaim to the unquestioning trade-press, that data will solve everything, that the secret behind successful marketing campaigns will be the deciphering of Runic 1s and 0s to reveal the truth.
(No one ever says what will happen when everyone is using data--and you've lost your data advantage.)
My skepticism about big data comes primarily from having heard about it for a few years now and having never seen it in action. I've yet to receive either first or second hand an example of a data-driven ad that's persuaded me in an adroit and able manner.
The marketing I receive--in my email or in my Linked In or through Facebook is as dumb as I've always gotten. I can think of no ostensible reason behind why I get the ads I get, and certainly no big data reason.
I'm not being bull-headed or intractable here. If you can explain it to me, please call me on amy work phone. I'd love to learn.
Relating to big data, I came upon this quotation yesterday from one of the online ad trades:
I warned, and will continue to warn, about those marketing mumbo-jumbo-ists who will proclaim to the unquestioning trade-press, that data will solve everything, that the secret behind successful marketing campaigns will be the deciphering of Runic 1s and 0s to reveal the truth.
(No one ever says what will happen when everyone is using data--and you've lost your data advantage.)
My skepticism about big data comes primarily from having heard about it for a few years now and having never seen it in action. I've yet to receive either first or second hand an example of a data-driven ad that's persuaded me in an adroit and able manner.
The marketing I receive--in my email or in my Linked In or through Facebook is as dumb as I've always gotten. I can think of no ostensible reason behind why I get the ads I get, and certainly no big data reason.
I'm not being bull-headed or intractable here. If you can explain it to me, please call me on amy work phone. I'd love to learn.
Relating to big data, I came upon this quotation yesterday from one of the online ad trades:
“Data shows us things that other agencies can’t see—consumers, buying patterns, unique insights—and we’re able to bring clients like [client name] big creative ideas to capitalize on our unique perspective.”
If someone could explain that to me, I'll buy you a beer or a cuppa, because I simply don't understand.
1. What is a unique insight?
2. Show me your big creative idea that capitalizes on your unique perspective.
Again, I'm not trying to be difficult. I just don't understand.
I fear, however, that this little bit below is what's being called a "unique insight" and a "big creative idea."
"The brand also created data-driven stories for mass media coverage by partnering with PR Hacker, an agency that specializes in story-based data-driven content. For this part of the campaign, [client] asked 1,500 Americans to "go green bean" and rate their thoughts for the classic green-bean casserole side dish. The result: The first annual [client] Green Bean Index, a ranking of the top 25 U.S. states with the highest concentration of green-bean casserole lovers for the holidays."
I think, frankly, what we're seeing is "data-washing." The same old marketing drivel heralded in new ways because it is allegedly informed by data.
Until I see ten cases of legitimate business success that can be attributed to data, I'm not buying it.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
This weekend and Big Data.
This weekend we were supposed to be hit with a "named" storm that was going to wreak havoc on one and all. It was supposed to be the second-coming of Sandy.
New York's consistently inappropriate mayor even banned swimming at city beaches because of what was to be a fearsome, deathly rip-tide.
The weather reports seemed to be going on 'round the clock. They claimed we'd have torrents of rain, coastal flooding--and the exact line I remember--winds of 46-miles-per-hour.
46-miles-per-hour.
Not 45.
Not 47.
46-miles-per-hour.
Somehow our scientists were so blessed by data and so astute they no longer had to say "Wind gusts of 40-miles-per-hour or more." Or "Wind in the 40-mile-per-hour-range." No. They had it down to a science.
I am remarking on this not as a screed against meteorologists. But as a warning against Big Data Dogmatists and Science Charlatans.
This will be the next trend that afflicts us in our industry. We'll be told according to data with utter assuredness exactly how we should market, when and to whom.
There will be "fact-like precision" in their proclamations. We will have details down to the nose-hair.
We'll be given if-then propositions down to the mile-per-hour and browbeaten into believing it because, well, because it is based on data. So it must be true.
And then what happened this weekend will happen in the market.
It will be sunny. The skies will be clear. The sea, calm.
As the Romans used to say: "Cave data. Hoc est verum et in parte falsum medium."
Beware data. It is half true and half false.
New York's consistently inappropriate mayor even banned swimming at city beaches because of what was to be a fearsome, deathly rip-tide.
The weather reports seemed to be going on 'round the clock. They claimed we'd have torrents of rain, coastal flooding--and the exact line I remember--winds of 46-miles-per-hour.
46-miles-per-hour.
Not 45.
Not 47.
46-miles-per-hour.
Somehow our scientists were so blessed by data and so astute they no longer had to say "Wind gusts of 40-miles-per-hour or more." Or "Wind in the 40-mile-per-hour-range." No. They had it down to a science.
I am remarking on this not as a screed against meteorologists. But as a warning against Big Data Dogmatists and Science Charlatans.
This will be the next trend that afflicts us in our industry. We'll be told according to data with utter assuredness exactly how we should market, when and to whom.
There will be "fact-like precision" in their proclamations. We will have details down to the nose-hair.
We'll be given if-then propositions down to the mile-per-hour and browbeaten into believing it because, well, because it is based on data. So it must be true.
And then what happened this weekend will happen in the market.
It will be sunny. The skies will be clear. The sea, calm.
As the Romans used to say: "Cave data. Hoc est verum et in parte falsum medium."
Beware data. It is half true and half false.
The disappearance of books. And other stories.
About two years ago I became unable to buy another printed book.
Though four rooms in my six room apartment were lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves, and books were stacked double in each row, and stacked high on my night-table and high on the floor alongside my reading chair, and high alongside my side of the bed, I had run completely out of room.
I literally couldn't fit another book in my home.
My wife gave me a look every time I entered a bookstore or even if she saw me reading, as I do, "The New York Times Book Review."
It was the look you might give a loving pet when he brings home a dead animal from the woods out back. "You're not really going to bring that in here," she seemed to say.
So, dutifully, I went onto Amazon and bought a Kindle. Right now, in a little under two years, I have 231 books stored on it.
I like the Kindle. I like the convenience of ordering books in an instant. And I like, when I go on vacation, to not have to lug four or five books with me.
But I do miss the physicality of real books. Of holding them in my hands. Of beautiful covers. And, one thing Kindle sucks at, of seeing pictures and reading maps and charts that add to whatever I'm reading.
I read an article in the "Times" yesterday that said actual book readership--despite proclamations of the apocalypse by one and all--was actually up not down.
When I decided to make the switch from physical books to electronic, I walked down to America's greatest book store and talked to a used book buyer called Seth Holmes. I told him I had about 4,000 books in my collection and was looking to sell. He said he'd send an appraiser, then send workmen to pack and remove.
I felt like I was standing on a very high diving board on a very hot day. I wanted to leap, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do it.
There's a lesson in all this, somehow.
That the things that are supposed to shake up the world and change it inexorably seldom do.
And even old dyed-in-the-wool fuckers like me can change.
Though four rooms in my six room apartment were lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves, and books were stacked double in each row, and stacked high on my night-table and high on the floor alongside my reading chair, and high alongside my side of the bed, I had run completely out of room.
I literally couldn't fit another book in my home.
My wife gave me a look every time I entered a bookstore or even if she saw me reading, as I do, "The New York Times Book Review."
It was the look you might give a loving pet when he brings home a dead animal from the woods out back. "You're not really going to bring that in here," she seemed to say.
So, dutifully, I went onto Amazon and bought a Kindle. Right now, in a little under two years, I have 231 books stored on it.
I like the Kindle. I like the convenience of ordering books in an instant. And I like, when I go on vacation, to not have to lug four or five books with me.
But I do miss the physicality of real books. Of holding them in my hands. Of beautiful covers. And, one thing Kindle sucks at, of seeing pictures and reading maps and charts that add to whatever I'm reading.
I read an article in the "Times" yesterday that said actual book readership--despite proclamations of the apocalypse by one and all--was actually up not down.
When I decided to make the switch from physical books to electronic, I walked down to America's greatest book store and talked to a used book buyer called Seth Holmes. I told him I had about 4,000 books in my collection and was looking to sell. He said he'd send an appraiser, then send workmen to pack and remove.
I felt like I was standing on a very high diving board on a very hot day. I wanted to leap, but I couldn't quite bring myself to do it.
There's a lesson in all this, somehow.
That the things that are supposed to shake up the world and change it inexorably seldom do.
And even old dyed-in-the-wool fuckers like me can change.
Sunday, September 4, 2016
A love letter to New York.
The city—the entire eastern seaboard, actually—was being threatened by a major tropical storm, but the weather in Manhattan was nearly perfect. The temperature was about 70-degrees, the humidity was relatively low, and there were only scattered clouds in the sky.
Around 7:15, we headed over to Central Park to see the Public Theater’s production of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night.” It was a “Public Works” production which seeks to “blur the line between professionals and amateurs.” Among the performers were the Jambalaya Brass Band, the New York Deaf Theatre, members of the National Association of Letter Carriers, The Love Show (Can-Can dancers), Ziranmen Kungfu Wushu Training Center and the Cobu Drum Masters.
The cast of about 60 represented a panoply of colors and ethnicities—of the variety that make New York, New York and makes so many arch-reactionaries so fearful of the “browning of America.”
Twelfth Night in this rendition was a musical and to call it rollicking would be an affront to rollicks. The 90-minute intermission-less show whizzed by like the A-train on a good day and you could hardly catch your breath. There were some great Shakespeare lines (Especially a song based on “Some are born great. Some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.)
Perhaps topping it all was the greatness the weather had thrust upon us. The night was serene. Rare for New York, the stars and planets were visible in the ink-black sky. Even rarer, the show was virtually uninterrupted by police and fire sirens and helicopters flying overhead.
The place was mobbed. And wonderfully mobbed with old and young. Strong and infirm. Rich and poor. And people of every shape, size and color. 2000 people living, laughing, clapping, hugging, learning, listening in harmony and peace.
There’s so much horror in the world, so often. Listen to the news and the rantings of the radical reactionary right. The so-called holy wars of hell and the internecine terror that kills and maims and harms so many.
Come to New York and see a different world.
The way the world could be.
Come visit.
You won't want to leave.
Friday, September 2, 2016
On a quiet Friday morning.
Like an idiot, I'm in early once again.
There are fewer people here than in Chernobyl.
Outside there's a beautiful late summer day.
The Friday before a long weekend.
Looking east, there are some wisps of cirrus cloud.
Elsewhere nothing but blue.
In the Hudson sits a huge tanker waiting for a pier so it can unload.
It sits there stolid like an old man waiting for the dentist or his tax accountant.
Inside, there is only the assertive whisper of white noise emanating from the ceiling. It's supposed to cancel out the chaos of our open plan. It's about as successful as a moth
flying through a tornado.
I like the quiet.
I like having the quiet to see what's around me.
I like having the quiet to reflect and actually think.
They call Labor Day the last weekend of summer.
Though summer doesn't really end for three more weeks.
And the warm weather probably won't end till around Thanksgiving.
This is, after all, the Anthropocene Period.
A fancy-schmancy way of saying that we have reached the fullest flower of human-caused environmental destruction.
Whatevs.
It's a beautiful day.
And I have work to do.
There are fewer people here than in Chernobyl.
Outside there's a beautiful late summer day.
The Friday before a long weekend.
Looking east, there are some wisps of cirrus cloud.
Elsewhere nothing but blue.
In the Hudson sits a huge tanker waiting for a pier so it can unload.
It sits there stolid like an old man waiting for the dentist or his tax accountant.
Inside, there is only the assertive whisper of white noise emanating from the ceiling. It's supposed to cancel out the chaos of our open plan. It's about as successful as a moth
flying through a tornado.
I like the quiet.
I like having the quiet to see what's around me.
I like having the quiet to reflect and actually think.
They call Labor Day the last weekend of summer.
Though summer doesn't really end for three more weeks.
And the warm weather probably won't end till around Thanksgiving.
This is, after all, the Anthropocene Period.
A fancy-schmancy way of saying that we have reached the fullest flower of human-caused environmental destruction.
Whatevs.
It's a beautiful day.
And I have work to do.
Thursday, September 1, 2016
For what?
 |
| Read this copy. Would it work this election season? |
Every day literally hundreds of creative units squirt like ink from a diseased squid into my in-box. Or they're presented to me in a fluorescent conference room, or the make their way to my table.
Tweets. LinkedIn posts. Blogs. Interactive pdfs. Banner after banner after banner like cars on the L.I.E. heading out to the Hamptons.
They keep on coming.
They keep on coming.
Ads on jumbotrons. Ads on channels I've scarcely heard of. Ads as persistent and numerous as gnats on a humid summer night or ants at a picnic.
I think we have gotten so proficient at creating and developing new ways to reach customers that we have forgotten the fundamental principles of communication.
That a communication must have weight.
That a communication must have interest.
That a communication must have stopping power.
That a communication must provide useful information to the viewer.
I worry that we have forgotten all this.
That so much of what we do simply says "Look at me! I'm here!" And forgets that if, as a piece of communication if it doesn't provide value, it is only an annoyance.
There's nothing worse a brand can do than to annoy people.
And in today's 'new media landscape' there are so many more ways to get our annoyances to people that doing work, work that is so often annoying, is actually off brand.
My old man common sense says that something's wrong.
That we are no longer communicators.
We have become pests.
We have become pests.
Ugly is only skin deep.
Do you agree or disagree?
If you desire to become well-versed in English literature, you'll find a way to read some John Milton, some John Donne, a lot of Geoffrey Chaucer (my personal favorite--if you can't make your way through Middle English, read Peter Ackroyd's modern rendition) and of course, all the Shakespeare you can get your hands on.
Just like, if you're a film aficionado, you ought to have a grip on Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, David Lean and Coppola's "Godfather" trinity.
Just like, if you're a doctor, you study the work of doctors who went before you. Or if you're a lawyer, you study cases and precedent.
Just like if you're a mother or father, you might ask your mother or father for parenting advice.
I suppose that's some version of my second favorite, or third favorite line from Faulkner: "The past isn't dead. It's not even past."
All that said, I am shocked by how few people in advertising and marketing today study advertising and marketing in a productive and methodical way. Now that it seems like everyone and his cousin has four-years of post-graduate advertising school under their belts, I can't for the life of me fathom what they are teaching in those schools.
Dominik Imseng reached out to me the other day, and we've begun emailing back and forth. He's written a new book,
"Ugly Is Only Skin-Deep: The Story of the Ads That Changed the World."
You can buy the book (and should) here.
Simply put--in addition to including dozens and dozens of great VW ads, Dominik lays out the story of how the ads were created, how the Shakespeare of modern marketing was created.
Years ago, back before many of my dear readers were even born, I worked for Ron Rosenfeld and Len Sirowitz. Two denizens of the heyday of DDB, responsible for many of VW's greatest ads.
Both Ron and Len were young inductees into advertising's various Halls of Fame, and I joined their 150-person shop with the hope that I would learn from them like Alexander the Great at the knee of Aristotle.
To be honest with you, when I worked for Ron and Len, it quickly became apparent to me that they no longer gave a shit. They had won every award worth winning about 30 times over and now were interested more in amassing mammon and polishing their country estates.
Nevertheless, I would chat with them about their old days, and I tried to learn all I could about what they had done. I'd run down to the Strand, America's greatest book store and buy every award annual I could lay my 29-year-old hands on and read every VW ad and every ad Ron and Len worked on.
Why don't we do this anymore?
Why don't we learn from our history? From the ads that created advertising?
Do yourself and your career a favor. Forgo two days' worth of pretentious caffeine. Spend your money instead on Mr Imseng's surpassing book.
And get in early for a month and spend half an hour a morning looking at advertising's equivalent of Breugel or Van Gogh or Durer or Caravaggio.
Read some ads. And learn.
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