The Caplan Group - Random Thoughts of an Ad Man

Tortured

2009-05-19T17:37:00.002-04:00

The cable new channels are having a field day with the torture issue.

Speaker Nancy knew what and when? VP Dick ordered torture, or did he request it? Torture is an important issue but for cable news to spend hours and hours discussing the issue when our economy is in the tank, gas prices are going up and 45 million folks still don't have health care is excessive. I know we have that great film footage of a guy getting water boarded but can't we get some footage of folks being laid off and not being able to go to a doctor because they can't afford it?

Please elevate the discussion to the big issues of the day.

Game Changer

2009-04-28T14:31:00.001-04:00

When the finals of the NCAA tournament concluded several weeks ago we were asked to vote for the "Pontiac game changing moment". We should have delayed our vote until now because I vote for Pontiac to please refund the taxpayers for their lavish branding campaign on CBS when they had to know that Pontiac was shutting down. I guess the game changing moment was not enough to change Pontiac's fortune.

Keep It Real

2009-04-14T16:12:00.000-04:00

It is me or did you find it a little weird that Captain Richard Phillips' wife had a "spokesperson" come out and speak to the media after her husband was saved by the Navy Seals? She was suffering from laryngitis so she most certainly needed some assistance in speaking to the media, but a PR professional? Wouldn’t it have been better to have a close family friend address the media and say perhaps, Ms. Phillips is so happy her husband is safe and would like to thank the brave Navy Seals that undertook the successful mission.

Do we really need a "professional" public relations person to talk about everything all the time? We are unable to keep it real. Have a real person speak from their heart. Everything is so scripted that the quotes from a professional mouth piece after the saving of Captain Phillips simply does not do the act of heroism justice.

A Game Changing Moment

2009-04-07T09:18:00.003-04:00

Rick Wagner was fired by President Obama and yet he still got his $23 million pension – that’s one heck of a good bye check. He should have been fired for the stupid advertising he has run during the NCAA basketball tournaments. Pontiac running branding ads is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Why would you spend money branding a product that your company has openly admitted is going to be shed? Is the “Pontiac game changing moment” really selling more Pontiacs?

And please, Howie Long talking about the “great” GM trucks? Yet another brilliant waste of taxpayer money! GM needs to explain how hard their employees are working to make affordable, reliable vehicles; how they need your support; and here is what we are giving YOU our loyal customer. Stop advertising like is was the good old days, because it’s not.

Memo to GM: Wake Up And Tell America What You Plan To Do? Now that would be a game changing moment.

Insanity

2009-03-31T10:05:00.000-04:00

Albert Einstein wrote, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Being in the advertising business today, the greatest hurdle we face is trying to tell clients and prospects that the media world has changed. That doing the same "old media", spending the same dollars, is not going to yield the same results it did just several years ago. We tell our clients that and while they know in their heart we are correct, it has not yet connected to their rational thought process.

Old habits are hard to break and change is not easily confronted. Marketing your business in today’s digital online world of marketing is the current reality. Get to know it and appreciate what it can do for you; it will help you compete in these challenging economic times.

Where Has All The Media Gone?

2009-03-10T12:31:00.001-04:00

The Rocky Mountain News folded about a week ago with barely a whimper. A major publication for over 100 years goes out of business not because people don’t need to be informed, but because the newspaper industry was slow to react to the digital revolution.

Newspapers were fat, dumb and arrogant to their advertisers and readers. They kept charging ad rates that did not reflect the decline in their circulation because readers demanded real time information. So you tell me who is to blame for the newspaper demise? Please no bailout money for this industry!

The new frontier was online but the traditional folks (newspaper, television & radio) would not acknowledge that a new day was coming. When the earthquake finally hit their bottom line it was too late.

The major networks didn’t take CNN seriously when it started, and look what they’ve become. Memo to the tradional media folks - there is no longer a mass market! Massive niche media are filling the indivual consumer’s desire. You want to learn how to cook a good bowl of chicken soup? Watch Food Network. You want to know the score of your favorite team? Go to espn.com.

Sure today you can finally go to the website of your daily newspaper to get sports scores, but I’ve been going to espn.com for years – what’s my incentive to change? Don’t want to go to the web to get your scores? No problem, get them sent right to your cell phone.

The first ones to the party usually get the food and drink. Newspapers and major networks got there when folks were already cleaning up.

You snooze you lose.

Glad I'm a Teacher

2009-03-09T11:50:00.001-04:00

I was a public school teacher for six years after I graduated from college and currently I am a college adjunct professor. I realized recently however that I was teaching even before I began working at the college. As an owner of an advertising agency in today’s changing media world I find that my team and I are “teaching” our clients and prospective clients about the new and exciting world of online digital advertising every day.

Change scares folks so we prepare our “lesson plans” with great care. Businesses and organizations are excited when we demonstrate to them how search engine marketing, online media, email campaigns and customer retention management systems can help them find, get and retain customers.

Of course as a teacher I have found that posing a question to the student (in this case our clients) allows me to gain insight into the gaps of their knowledge and determine where our services will be most effective. So how would you answer the first question we always ask our clients?

“What is your digital strategy?”

Where Have You Gone Baltimore Sun?

2009-03-06T10:41:00.000-05:00

The Baltimore Sun’s idea for survival is to give you less for more. If you haven’t noticed recently, The Baltimore Sun has shrunk - by one full column inch and many good news reporters. The paper has become a photo album because pictures take up space, leaving less need for copy from a reporter who earns a paycheck.

Into today’s world of mass information The Baltimore Sun has decided to become irrelevant to the Baltimore region. Their website http://www.baltimoresun.com/ compared to other major daily newspapers is very elementary. Check out http://www.washingtonpost.com/ if you don’t believe me, or http://www.nytimes.com/. Rule #1 in today’s digital world is excellent and relevant content is what drives readers to a website or to buy a copy of the paper.

I will miss The Baltimore Sun, but they have no one to blame but themselves. The digital age came and they ignored it. Someone will buy the shrinking circulation base and perhaps Baltimore will still have a daily newspaper for a little while longer. But it has to be someone who gives us more for less.