'Left to Pursue Other Interests'? Right

Translating Euphemisms for Being Let Go

Published in Advertising Age

June 11, 2007

By Tony Stanol
There's a lot of movement in the advertising industry, with all the downsizing, right sizing, trimming the fat and belt-tightening going on. Chances are that at one time or another during your advertising career, you will be laid off, fired, dismissed or otherwise find yourself "on the beach."

Job tenure in and around the ad biz is surprisingly short, and it's getting shorter. The average length of time on the job for a client-side CMO is about 26 months; for an executive creative director at a large shop, 16 months; and for agencies working on the Miller account, a whiplash-inducing 3.2 weeks.

I've experienced both sides of job loss in my two dozen years in the business -- the giving end and the receiving end. As can be expected with the communications business, we're not lacking for euphemisms for showing someone the door. But the official company statement is often a slightly imprecise representation of the truth.

Other reasons ...
I know from personal experience that layoffs are not always performance-related, either in the advertising industry or in the broader marketing community. So I was interested to learn what is behind many of these decisions, unfair as they may often seem. A recent survey by a well-known corporate polling organization of several ad agencies and corporations shed some light on the subject.

But should you be one of the chosen, don't let it get you down. Unemployment is actually a great time to take stock of your life's accomplishments, target your next job opportunity, polish your résumé and fantasize about a variety of extremely violent acts involving your former employer. It is a blissful state of dabbling and networking, and it represents an ideal lifestyle, in my opinion, if it weren't for the money thing.

So shoulder on, all ye workers in the advertising trade. I intend to keep my current position until such time that it may become necessary for me to pursue other opportunities.

 

Hispanic Ad Shops:  Survival of the Fittest

Published in Marketing y Medios

June 01, 2006

By Tony Stanol

 

SPANISH-LANGUAGE media in this country dates back centuries, with periodicals and signage catering to an audience that has come to be called U.S. Hispanics. Paradoxically, the Hispanic advertising industry itself is in its infancy. While the first professional U.S. advertising agency, NW Ayer, opened its doors in 1869, the Hispanic advertising industry is only approximately 20 years old.

So how are Hispanic shops evolving? What challenges do they face? Are there any lessons to be learned from the older Anglo industry? Having worked in general-market agencies and Hispanic, here is an insider's perspective.

The U.S. advertising industry has experienced unprecedented expansion during the past 20 years. It is an era marked by a series of earthshaking events, such as voracious holding companies gobbling up the strongest agencies, account planning coming ashore and new media vehicles suddenly populating the world.

But what about Hispanic agencies during this era? Here's a snapshot:

Total Hispanic agency revenue amounted to nearly a half-billion dollars last year, compared to approximately $20 billion for all agencies. Some Hispanic shops are old-timers still around from the 1980s. They include Siboney and Orcí as offspring from agency networks FCB and McCann, respectively. More recently, we have seen a number of self-starters, including Grupo Gallegos and Vidal, who broke off from their previous partners.

For the most part, Hispanic shops tend to be full service. Primarily, they address the language need since general-market shops no longer even pretend to do Spanish well. They also provide an important cultural counterbalance: self-advocating the importance of the Latino consumer. If they don't do this, no one will.

The fact is, Hispanic shops have not evolved much during the past 20 years! In some respects, they are less sophisticated than many of the leading general-market agencies. This may be because of their short histories, their miniscule budgets and resources they have to work with, and the depth of experience among many of their people.

Hispanic agencies are at an evolutionary crossroads: More advertisers need to be convinced about the market potential. Latinos represent 14 percent of the U.S. population but receive only 3 percent of total advertising spending. Even Web-based ad spending is now higher than Hispanic. This sector of the ad industry must either evolve or die.

In my opinion, there are five evolutionary challenges facing Hispanic agencies. Not surprisingly, they come right out of the trends that are shaping the general market:

Wrestling with agency independence

Media unbundling

Who owns the consumer?

The language debate

Upping creative quality

And of these, the most divisive challenge is media unbundling.

One recent headline captured the tension of this issue perfectly: "Media Chiefs to Ad Folks: We've Split, Get Over It."

There's a lot of hand-wringing about general-market media departments leaving the building — and for good reason. These departures were not necessarily engineered at the altar of what's good for the client. Creative and media do not get to play together. Integration denied.

Will this happen to Hispanic agencies? Some contend that it's already happening. Tapestry, part of Starcom Mediavest (Publicis), controls approximately $300 million in U.S. multicultural media. And Carat has recently swept away Hyundai, Kia, Radio Shack and Rent-A-Center from their full-service Hispanic agencies.

Hispanic agencies should beware of losing this huge competitive advantage. In contrast to my general-market experience, I found it invaluable to have a media department nestled in Hispanic agency Orcí when I worked there. It helps integrate creative ideas with media if both parties are brought to the table together early and often. You have an edge in knowing the market better than the other guy.

Yes, the strong will survive. But this is a perfect time in history for Hispanic agencies to learn from their Anglo brethren and smartly deliver integration.

 

Tony Stanol has run global accounts at FCB, BBDO and JWT in New York and, more recently, headed up all client services departments at La Agencia de Orcí in Los Angeles.

Ceramic Heads: Olympians Fall Short

Published in Brandweek

February 27, 2006

By Tony Stanol

THE CROP of commercials that aired during the Winter Olympics were as disappointing as NBC's ratings. Are our leading creative shops too distracted by guerrilla marketing, product placement and blogs to do justice to their TV work?

Much discussion has taken place about the death of the 30-second commercial. It's clear that we are not currently experiencing its high water mark even in traditionally high-profile venues like the Winter Olympics. Here's a brief rundown from a typical night of viewing.

Strangers on ice: We have monologues taking place on park benches next to (slow reveal) a life-size ceramic Ronald McDonald statue. Is Mickey D's trying to one-up the Burger King, that strange frozen-smiled medieval character who is seen handing people burgers anywhere from football fields to peep show booths (see their latest effort out of Europe)? Is it a coincidence that we have a ceramic-headed costumed Quaker Oats man parading around, too? I've got great respect for Crispin Porter, BK's agency, and so I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they are on to something. But whatever it is, it's way beyond the understanding of us guys over the age of 21.

As for McD's, how long before we hear gold medal snowboarder Shaun "The Flying Tomato" White holding a "dude"-laced monologue with the great ceramic clown?

Just a routine routine: Next we have Dennis Haysbert of 24 fame talking about our driving behavior around cop cars. I've seen this spot often enough to memorize it and that's a shame because the line about "that's Allstate's stand" just sounds more and more incongruous. Too bad Allstate didn't call for some more Olympic-themed commercials like they did for the last Summer Olympics, or for the Salt Lake Winter Games in 2002, where they reunited the storied players from the 1980 gold medal U.S. men's hockey team.

The repeated flogging of this latest commercial, for a market-modifying new product like "Your Choice Auto," sure feels like the agency couldn't come up with something better in time for the huge media buy. A symptom of separation of media planning and creative perhaps?

False start: I'm not sure Coca-Cola is doing itself any favors running those guys in red bobsledding suits simulating Olympic events in their living room. Even Agency of the Year, BBDO, seemingly lost its way with the Snickers campaign. After years of turning out some funny spots, we are now reduced to Snickers bars as hair pieces and surrogate courier pigeons. Not tasty stuff.

Great moments still to come? At the same time, I can just imagine the conversations in BBDO's creative department about their sister agency's new Visa campaign. I really hope the campaign goes somewhere after this opening anthem series. There's too much great memorable work that preceded this for Visa's advertising to be relegated to a cheery montage. And Chiat is too great an agency not to deliver; they have what it takes.

The Chevy Suburban "Gopher" commercial sends mixed messages with the rodents crawling all over and in the SUV. It reminds me of the ill-fated United Airlines campaign years ago in which a submerged fuselage is infiltrated by sperm whales swimming through the aisles to illustrate roominess in the coach cabin.

Silver and bronze: Alas, no gold, but there are some bright spots. Bud Light comes to mind for the hilarious "Magic Refrigerator" ads. "Here's To Beer" is a refreshing industry message, but I can't help but wonder if it was somehow inspired in a small way by Red Stripe's "Hooray Beer" campaign.

Sprint's "The Man" commercial is watchable through repeated viewings even though it has aired almost as often as the Allstate spot. The Honda Element spots with talking crabs and animals are quirky and seem right for that car, but how long before we see some of Honda's terrific work in the U.K. run here? Have you seen "Chorus" yet? It's from those wonderful folks who brought us "Grrrr" and "Cog." And, if the goal of the Emerald Nuts work is to get you to simply remember their obscure brand name, well, they have succeeded.

Maybe I've watched too much of the Winter Olympics. Or maybe like some fans who'd watched NBC's hype, I had higher expectations. But when the commercial pods came on, I found myself quickly perusing e-mail or seeing who was getting insulted on American Idol. The commercials themselves might explain the growth of non-TV venues. But please, let's not make the death of the 30-second commercial a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Tony Stanol has run worldwide accounts at FCB, BBDO and JWT in New York and, more recently, headed up client services at a large Hispanic agency in Los Angeles. Contact: 818-224-4165, or www.tonystanol.com.

 

Top of Mind: Lick The Screen: How To Sell An Oreo

Published in Brandweek

May 03, 2004
By Tony Stanol

I'VE HAD the unique opportunity of running global snack food accounts at not one, or two, but three very different agencies: Nabisco at FCB, Frito-Lay at BBDO and Cadbury Adams at J. Walter Thompson. In the process, I've learned a few things about how to—and how not to —get great advertising that works. Some of these lessons, of course, can apply not just to food advertising but also to advertising in general.

Lesson No. 1: A good idea can, and should travel.

 We were running advertising for Oreo cookies in the U.S. called the "Twist, Lick and Dunk" campaign featuring the popular ritual of how to eat an Oreo cookie: twist apart the wafers, lick the inside crème, reassemble the cookie, dunk it in milk and eat it. In truth, less than half of all consumers actually eat Oreos like this. But it was a great way to get the viewer involved with the product in a way unique to sandwich cookies, of which Oreo is far-and-away the market leader.

The campaign worked extremely well in the U.S. and the agency was able to pool out the idea with a father teaching his son, a grandfather teaching his granddaughter, and even a boy teaching a dog. Oreo became the No. 1 cookie in the U.S.

After Nabisco consolidated its non-U.S. business with us, we had a hunch that the ritual could be used in other countries as well. At the time there were different Oreo campaigns running in virtually each of the 20-some odd countries in which the brand was advertised. It was a hodgepodge of messaging.

We tried "Twist, Lick and Dunk" in some receptive countries in South America and found that the campaign adapted very well. However, you could count the receptive markets on one hand.

My subsequent experience on other global accounts was that countries without a good campaign for key brands, including Lay's potato chips and Trident gum, were receptive to ideas that worked elsewhere in the world. Those places with their own homegrown campaigns were not so receptive. Which leads us to the next lesson . . .

Lesson No. 2: You will encounter natural resistance in trying to get an idea to travel.

After going market-to-market convincing managers on the merits of marketing Oreos, we next needed to confront the question of which advertising to use. Some markets, like China, had built a nice Oreo business advertising just to kids, thank you very much. Others had local campaigns they were reluctant to lose. Some countries didn't want to use a U.S. campaign simply because it originated here. Fair enough. A lot of local ego—from both client and agency—was involved.

But eventually we managed to get nearly everyone to run a version of the "Twist" campaign through a combination of old-fashioned arm-twisting, copy testing and demonstrating its proven success in other markets. The process built on itself as more countries came into the fold. And it worked. Oreo became the No. 1 cookie in the world.

Lesson No. 3: You can achieve nirvana when the client and agency are truly aligned on a strategic goal.

An agency network is often a loose confederation of otherwise independent offices sharing the same name and, if you're lucky, the same ownership. Naturally, the local offices feel they know their local market far better than any outsider and like to create their own campaigns. They don't take too kindly to "help" or "suggestions" from headquarters. However, when a client is sending the same signals to the local agency as the agency's account head in New York, real nirvana can be reached.

Not everyone can be like Oreo and FCB. I have seen the value of running the same message for a core brand around the world, but some marketers don't share that sentiment. As a result, they get different campaigns in different markets from their global agency. Sure that's fine—if you don't want a seamless message. To get around the problem remember, ideas can be shared globally, while executions can be tailored to add local faces and flavor.

Lesson No. 4: Don't lose sight of the fact that you want people to put your product in their mouths in the first place.

In the confections world, there are a lot more interesting treats than Life Savers hard candy. And after 80 years on the market, Life Savers' image had become stale and old fashioned.

To freshen it up, we developed a campaign for the U.S. which tossed aside the 80 years of emotion and sentiment associated with the brand and set the following objective: make the product so appetizing viewers will want to get up and lick the TV screen. We needed to introduce Life Savers as if they were a new product; show people how luscious they really were.

The campaign consisted of delicious, tight close-ups of Life Savers candies plunging slow motion into water, splashing sensuously among various gorgeous looking fruits. The visuals really were mouth watering. And the music, from a South African acappela group, was languid, hypnotic and lush. This went perfectly with the smooth feel of a Life Savers candy. The campaign copy tested through the roof and more than paid out in a high spend market test. And it ran for years with pool-outs for a number of Life Savers varieties.

Finally, perhaps the best lesson is that there are no hard and fast rules about advertising. Finesse, experience and a true understanding of how your advertising works in each individual market is indispensable.

Tony Stanol has over two decades of account management experience running U.S. and global accounts at FCB, BBDO and J. Walter Thompson. He is currently chief marketing officer at SFI Creative Group in New York. Contact: www.tonystanol.com.