TV

Earth Day PSA 2.0

~ K. Quesenberry ~ Leave a comment

Forty years ago on Earth Day 1971 Keep America Beautiful partnered with the Ad Council to create a campaign dramatizing how pollution was hurting the environment, and that every person had the responsibility to protect it. A PSA featuring Native American actor Chief Iron Eyes Cody aired with the tagline line, “People Start Pollution. People can stop it.” Iron Eyes Cody became forever known as “The Crying Indian.” The PSA won two Clio awards and the campaign was named one of the top 100 advertising campaigns of the 20th Century by Ad Age Magazine.

During the height of the campaign, Keep America Beautiful received more than 2,000 letters a month from people wanting to join the local team. Keep America Beautiful local teams helped to reduce litter by as much as 88% in 300 communities, 38 states, and several countries.

If we were to launch this same campaign today what kind of PR and digital media integration would we build around it?

My first thought is a social media release with facts, pictures and resources. We could us PitchEngine.  What about a microsite with tips and links to local chapters with a blog to update information? Maybe something like the TOMS Shoes blog.  I would also consider a “What makes you cry?” promotion and invite user generated videos of people submitting their own 30 second versions of the pollution in their neighborhoods. Think something like the Pepsi Crash the Superbowl contest.

What else would you do?

Speak Softly And Carry A Big Marketing Stick

~ K. Quesenberry ~ 1 Comment

There you are watching your favorite cop, hospital, action adventure, detective series. The main character just whispered the key to the entire season and BAMM! Cut to a guy standing in front of a car yelling about total liquidation savings. You nearly jump out of your seat, the dog starts barking and the baby wakes up. But its not just the local car dealer ads that are loud even the national brands rouse you out of your dramatic slumber. Most marketers would say this is a good thing. We need the TV viewers to pay attention to our ads or our TV buy is a waste. But attention comes at what expense?

According to the findings of just released Adweek Media/Harris Poll, 86% of Americans say that compared to the TV shows themselves, TV commercials seem louder. 57% say the commercials seem much louder, while just 12% say the shows and commercials are at the same level. 93% of those who say the ads are louder say it bothers them, with 62% saying it bothers them a lot. Dolby thinks they have a solution with Dolby volume.

What can marketers learn from this? Since commercials are intended to sell products, when they become something that actually annoys consumers, advertisers need to consider better ways to get their messages across. This is not a rock concert turn the volume down! With the new pre-roll ads on Internet video are advertisers blasting Internet consumers also?

If advertisers can’t control their annoying shouting, consumers will control it for them with products like Dolby Volume or the government will step in. At the end of last year the House of Representatives voted to pass the CALM (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation) Act, which will regulate the volume of commercials.

Marketers need to quiet down before muzzle is put on for them. Loud ads are definitely just adding to the noise and not adding to marketing effectiveness.