The internet for young and old

There's a new television commercial running for State Farm Insurance which plays off the phenomenon that some believe that everything which appears on the internet is true.  And, there was a recent blog post, authored by a recent college graduate, who opined that all social media managers should be under the age of 25 as it is this group who truly understands this relatively new form of communication.

Now, on first glance, one might react and ask "what do these two things have in common?"  The answer is, "a lot."  Both are misguided points of view.  And, they are points of view which appear to originate from two opposite ends of the audience spectrum.

Let's first break down the comments of the 20-something about social media.  As you would expect, this writer, a recent graduate of the University of Iowa, was skewered in the comments section of her post.  One response, which I particularly liked, was by a reader who suggested that advancements in technology are happening so rapidly that using this logic means the writer would have a career life of, oh, say five years or so.  Others happily piled on, and not all of the respondents were baby boomers like me who may have simply taken offense at this young whipper-snapper's point-of-view.  No, the respondents used logic and facts to explain why this editorial opinion was rather absurd.  As I read the responses, and re-read the post, I wondered "How many young people, starting out in business, actually agree with this writer but understand the career suicide that a voiced or written opinion like this would cause?"

The myth that all things on the internet are true is most frequently represented by e-mail missives I receive from an older family member.  The most recent group e-mail contained a column written by a conservative "journalist" and credited to have appeared in the Wall Street Journal.  I had the time so I did some quick checking--using the internet, of course--on this writer and his published work, and discovered the piece in question first appeared in 2010, on his blog.  It did not appear in the Wall Street Journal or any other mainstream publication or website.

My point in all this is that users of digital communications have a wonderful tool at their fingertips but one that can be mis-used so, so easily.

We know that the vast majority of information appearing on the internet has not gone through a copy desk or editing desk.  Suggesting then that the internet is the highway for all things factual and true is horribly misguided.  Likewise, a belief that only young folks "understand" social media or any other form of digital communications is bent as it is the older demographic who is most quickly adopting sharing outlets like Pinterest, Facebook and Tumblr.

As marketers, it is our job to understand consumer behavior in this vast new digital world.  It's easy to use one's personal bias as the basis for a point-of-view; it's harder to dig, find facts, and utilize real consumer insights to tap into the true, targeted potential of what digital has to offer.

Sadness, as once again the world proves to be a dangerous place

I've always had a love affair with movies and the very act of going to the movies.  When I was young, the movie theater was the place where we kids could go to see the latest from Disney, or perhaps a historical movie that counted as a school field trip.  Later, the theater was the place to take a date or to see the latest blockbuster during the summer or over the winter holidays.

As a parent, the theater became the place where I could take my children to re-live the wonders of Disney or to introduce them to the superheroes of my youth.  It also was a safe haven--a place where we could drop off the kids during their teen years and pick them up a couple of hours later.

Today, that very act of going to the movies will never be the same.  A gunman in Colorado has taken human lives, injured dozens, and laid waste to the idea that the movie theater is a place where we go to get away and suspend normalcy for two plus hours.

We'll all listen to the reasons why in the days to come and we'll soon be hearing the precautions which movie chains will take to protect their patrons.  That's all well and good but the feeling of wonder and anticipation at the theater is now joined with "I wonder who's sitting in this place with me?"

Once again, the world has proven to be a sad, and dangerous, place.

2012 Emmy nominations

The nominations for this year's Emmy Awards have been announced and Timothy Olyphant and Justified are noticeably absent.

Neither Olyphant, in his best season yet, or his show made the cut among the nominations for Best Actor and Best Drama.  That's a shame as Justified (FX) was truly outstanding in its third season.

Not surprisingly, Mad Men (AMC) again led the way with nominations for Best Drama, Jon Hamm as Best Actor, Jared Harris as Best Supporting Actor, and Christina Hendricks as Best Supporting Actress.  Thankfully, voters also recognized Homeland (SHO) with nominations for Best Drama, Best Actress (Claire Danes) and Best Actor (Damien Lewis.)

The list of nominees looks more like an Oscars list than an Emmys list, though, as Kevin Costner, Bill Paxton, Nicole Kidman, Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Jessica Lange, Emma Thompson and Kathy Bates all earned nominations for their work on the small screen.

Costner and Paxton received nominations for Hatfields & McCoys, the ratings blockbuster for The History Channel.  Kidman and Owen were nominated for their roles in HBO's Hemingway & Gelhorn.

The recent trend of paid cable networks gaining more and more nominations continued in 2012--HBO received 81 nominations which was far in front of second place CBS' 60 nominations.  HBO shows like Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire, along with Veep, pushed the network into the leader for overall nominations.

Were there other big misses, in addition to Justified?  I was surprised that The Good Wife (CBS) did not get a Best Drama nomination.  The show's Julianna Margulies did get a nomination for Best Actress, which she won last year, and former winner Archie Panjabi was again nominated for Best Supporting Actress.  Another miss in the Best Drama category was the lack of nomination for Dexter.

Modern Family (ABC) and 30 Rock (NBC) were the most nominated comedies, as has been the case for the past two years.

The Emmys will be broadcast on ABC on September 23.

(Source:  New York Times, Los Angeles Times)

How to build a successful career in marketing communications

The following is a reprint of a guest blog post, from me, which appeared last week on the website of the Kansas City chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators.

******

I was a bright-eyed, headstrong journalism school graduate when I drove to central Kansas to interview for a sports editor position at a small newspaper many moons ago.  It had been my dream to cover sports and the prospect of an entry-level job, on a small newspaper, was simply the beginning of a career that would end up at Sports Illustrated or The Sporting News—or so I thought.

I was offered the job on the spot, accepted immediately, and then just as quickly had second thoughts as I drove three hours back to Kansas City.  I’m not sure what exactly caused my hesitance, but looking back, the decision to renege on my commitment was the first step on a fulfilling journey which has offered me stops along every discipline that marketing communications has to offer. 

My advice, when asked by those entering or new to our profession, is to encourage young professionals to find a company or opportunity where they can experience a wide swath of communications responsibilities.  The ability to one day work on a news release and the next to tackle a web assignment, not only exposes you to different tactics, but also helps one understand the importance of strategic message integration and linkage across communications tools.

My first job was with a publishing company that provided me exposure to news writing, print advertising copywriting and layout, and advertising sales.  Later, during my advertising agency days, I was on the management team of a small shop that integrated traditional advertising with public relations as well as event marketing.

Donna Schwartze, KC/IABC’s VP of Finance, told me a story of her early career when she worked at Six Flags/St. Louis in the marketing department.  The staff was small allowing Donna the chance to do a bit of everything and, along the way, determine that public relations was what she liked most.  The opportunity to sample various disciplines also gave Donna important experience across all marketing communications, now serving her well as the owner of her own business who can provide most any marketing service for her clients.

Working across various communications disciplines isn’t just confined, though, to small companies and/or departments.  While at Sprint, I utilized the size of the company to craft a career path which included advertising, digital communications, corporate communications, sponsorship and entertainment marketing, direct marketing, and retail communications.

My advice to you is to be open to the possibilities of jobs that provide a wide range of responsibility.  Make sure that you are making it clear that you want to help out across various areas of marketing communications.  Sample the possibilities.  Who knows?  Maybe your aspiration will change, like mine, and a whole new world of opportunity will greet you.

The connectivity dilemma

Two recent data points are sobering if you're an American worker.

The first is a July 2 article on FastCompany.com which confirmed one thing we know--U.S. citizens work a lot and are always connected.  A study by Good Technology logged the number of phone calls, e-mails and business texts you log in "after hours"--the number is 365 hours worth of "overtime."  Most of the 1,000 participants indicated that they do this "after hours" checking from the dinner table, while on vacation, and, yes, while in bed.

The Good Technology study also found that the average American starts checking e-mail at 7:09 a.m. and that 69% of us won't go to sleep without checking work e-mail.  The widespread adoption of smartphones is cited as a key culprit in ensuring that we're always connected.

The other piece of data from Inc. magazine, which again likely isn't a surprise, is the amount of time Americans take for vacation compared to their brethren in Europe and elsewhere.  U.S. workers take, on average, 12 vacation days a year which radically trails the 30 taken in Brazil or the 28 in Germany.  In the United Kingdom, workers take an average of 25 days per year while those in Norway take 21 and in India, 20.  Who trails the U.S.?  Only Japan lags us--workers there take an average of five vacation days per year.

In the U.S., the average number of vacation days which go unused each year is two.  What are the reasons for not taking all vacation days?  The most common reason cited is "I can't afford a vacation," followed by:
- "Work is my life."
- "I have trouble scheduling far enough in advance."
- "I can get paid for my unused vacation days."
- "Taking time off may be perceived negatively at work."

This depressing, yet not unexpected, information makes me wonder if we aren't setting ourselves up for a labor issue in this country as workers burn out from never being able to disconnect from work.  It's enough to make me want to take a vacation!

Sunday afternoon rambling

- Mad Men, Game of Thrones and The Killing have finished their seasons but a fitting replacement is making Sunday nights appointment viewing again.  The Newsroom (HBO), the creation of Arron Sorkin, offers up the staccato dialogue and smart storylines we've come to expect from Sorkin (see West Wing.)  Jeff Daniels plays the acerbic Will McAvoy and leads a strong ensemble cast.  You can catch the third episode tonight.

- Only a retail chain catering to those buying for youngsters could get away with the brand Buy Buy Baby.  If you've not shopped in BBB, it's worth a visit if only to question how you ever survived without the multitude of gear and supplies for infants and toddlers.

- Speaking of interesting brand names, what's with Boston Market?  This purveyor of comfort food doesn't exactly conjur up images, for me, of good ol' Boston.

- I shake my head at those Kansas Citians who grouse about what the city is spending to welcome those coming to town for Tuesday's Major League Baseball All-Star Game.  Not only will All-Star week provide approximately $60 million in economic impact for the region, it's offering up immeasurable value in the visibility for Kansas City and the metropolitan area.

A simpler time

The recent passing of Andy Griffith has had me pondering the desire for "simpler times," and those thoughts made me recall my fondness for the Independence Day celebrations of my childhood.  No, there were no fireworks bans back in the day and the thought of spending that summer holiday inside, no matter the temperature, was simply unthinkable.

Simpler times, indeed...I miss them.

The following post is reprinted from the July 4, 2009 edition of this blog.  

My fondest memories of Independence Day were the family get-togethers which would always happen on this holiday.  My grandmother and grandfather and uncle and aunt all lived within five houses of us out in “the country.” (“Country,” in this case, indicated the larger lots which we had while all around us were farms of significant size.)

My grandfather owned the ice plant in town—the place where townspeople would come during the time when “ice box” was the kitchen appliance which evolved into today’s refrigerator. He also sold cold beverages and summer fruits out of this huge, walk-in cooler which held the coldest bottled soda in town.

Each year, grandpa would come to our family gathering after working a long day at the plant on what typically would be his busiest day of the year. When he arrived he usually had two ice-cold, sweet-as-sugar watermelons under each arm, grinning and chuckling as he walked up to our outdoor barbecue and picnic.

One year, my dad and uncle ordered a huge box of fireworks from a mail-order place. This was before ordering online and even toll-free numbers. Dad and my uncle mailed in their form for a huge box of sparklers, firecrackers, bottle rockets, Roman candles and fountains. We had all waited in anticipation, knowing that this would be the best fireworks display ever. Eventually, the two brothers were setting off fireworks simultaneously--they had not calculated on the volume of fireworks that they would receive coupled with the short attention spans of all of us.

Time seemed so simple then. A sweet watermelon, my grandmother's fried chicken, a warm summer night and fireworks which were allowed in backyards. I miss those times and relish those memories.

It's "Independence Day"

EDITOR'S NOTE: The following entry is reprinted from this blog on July 4, 2010.

I have an axe to grind, America. Can we please stop commonly referring to this week's holiday as the "Fourth of July," and refer to it as "Independence Day?"

For a quick history lesson, on July 2 (yes, 2nd), 1776, the American colonies legally separated from Great Britain. This was accomplished when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve the resolution offered up by one of our Founding Fathers, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia. After voting for our country's independence, Congress then focused on the Declaration of Independence. This statement explained the decision of our forefathers and had been prepared by a committee of five men with Thomas Jefferson as the principal author. The wording was debated and reviewed by Congress and ultimately approved on July 4.

A day earlier, John Adams, another one of the five authors, wrote this to his wife Abigail:

- The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.

The suggestion that Adams offered up, in this letter to his wife, turned out to be two days off from the ultimate date used for celebrating America's independence. While resolution of our independence occurred on July 2, the date on the Declaration of Independence is July 4.

To further complicate our history's calendar, the signing of the Declaration of Independence did NOT occur on July 4--rather, it was signed on August 2, 1776. So enduring was the myth that signing occurred on July 4 that both Jefferson and Adams, late in their lives, recalled the signing occurring on that date. And, as we all know, both men died on that very day--July 4, 1826--our country's 50th anniversary.

So, when observing our country's independence this weekend, and carrying out Adams' vision of how we should celebrate, let's do just that--honor our "independence"...not the "4th of July."

T.G.I.F.

Let's wrap up this work week, shall we?

- I am shocked that TomKat is no more.  Shocked, I say...

- C'mon, admit it--you've missed the funny "Pizza! Pizza!" ads once used by Little Caesar's pizza.  Like all good ad campaigns when an advertiser needs a boost, this one is making a comeback.  Little Caesar's will launch its first national campaign in 15 years and is returning to its "Pizza! Pizza!" tagline and Little Caesar character.  Little Caesar's has $1.48B of the pizza market behind leaders Pizza Hut ($5.4B), Domino's ($3.4B) and Papa John's ($2.2B.)

- In the latest figures released by Advertising Age, Procter & Gamble tops the list of 100 Leading National Advertisers with a total 2011 U.S. spend of $4,971.5B.  General Motors is next but far behind at $3,055.7B.  The remaining advertisers in the top ten are Verizon ($2,523.0B), Comcast ($2,465.4B), AT&T ($2,359.0B), JPMorgan Chase & Co. ($2,351.8B), Ford Motor Co. ($2,141.3B), American Express ($2,125.3B), L'Oreal ($2,124.6B) and Walt Disney Co. ($2,112.2B.)  Sprint Nextel Corp. was 22nd at $1,400.0B.

- After a 10-year hiatus, Matchbox 20 is back with a new album, North, due out on September 4.

- What were the top Twitter trends for this week?  Nora Ephron topped the list followed by RIP Michael Jackson, Lugo, Now Playing, Spice Girls, Alan Turing, Happy World Music Day, San Juan, and Happy Birthday Ariana.  Writer and filmmaker Ephron died this week and this week was also the third anniversary of Jackson's death.  As for the Spice Girls, the five Brits announced this week that they are working together on a new musical, Viva Forever, which will feature many of the Spice gals' hits.

- In the "no surprise" category, Savannah Guthrie was named today to succeed Ann Curry as co-anchor of Today (NBC.)  There was no word in the crisply worded NBC statement as to whether Matt Lauer personally approved Guthrie's appointment or not.

- Shepard Fairey was asked by the Rolling Stones to update their iconic tongue logo in honor of the band's fiftieth anniversary.  That logo was unveiled this week and combines the numerals "5" and "0" into "The Rolling Stones," with the large lips and tongue artwork staying as the central design of the band's brand identity.  The original logo was designed in 1971 by John Pasche, a student at the Royal College of Art in London.

- And finally, here in the ol' cowtown, folks are licking their lips in anticipation of the July 5 opening of the Leawood outpost of Oklahoma Joe's barbecue.  The 'cue establishment is going into the space formerly occupied by TGIFriday's at 119th and Roe.

Hot air balloons, goggles and God Bless the USA

- Sign of the apocalypse:  A principal in a New York school banned kindergarten students from singing Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" at their graduation on the grounds that "we don't want to offend other cultures."

- Did you hear about the Indiana man whose marriage proposal went awry?  The hopeful young man hired a hot air balloon to propose to his girlfriend only to have the balloon collide with power lines, delivering a shock that knocked out the pilot who then fell on the young woman.  Both the pilot and bride-to-be were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.  Thankfully for the young man, the future bride said "yes" before the accident occurred.

- Did you like the ending of The Killing?  The AMC drama thankfully unveiled the killer of Rosie Larson.  Now, what will happen to the show next year...?

- Game of Thrones' popularity among teens and young adults generated an average of 3.9 million pirated downloads per episode during this recently concluded season.  That number is more than the 3.8 million who legally watched the show on HBO.

- The "Leading Actress in a Musical" Tony Award winner was Audra McDonald for her role in The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess.  Those who watch Private Practice (ABC) know McDonald as Dr. Naomi Bennett.  It was the fourth Tony Award win for McDonald.

- Here's your DIY tip of the day--use goggles when you cut an onion to prevent the normal tearing-up.  (Hey, c'mon, face it--you get all kinds of fun insight into an eclectic bunch of topics on this blog.)

- Actor Jared Harris did five hours of media interviews the Monday after his character, Lane Pryce, committed suicide on Mad Men (AMC.)  Not only were viewers caught off guard by the shocking development but so too were Harris' agents.  Unlike actors on other dramas (Sean Bean, Game of Thrones; Jon Bernthal, The Walking Dead) who signed on to do other projects, thus signaling their fate on their respective shows, Harris gamely ignored other opportunities in order to keep the fate of Pryce a secret until the show aired.  Brad Schenck, one of Harris' agents, knew that things were going the wrong direction when Harris' Pryce forged a check on the show.  "I told my wife, 'This isn't good'," said Schenck.

- And, finally, if you've chosen to avoid the new Dallas on TNT, you're missing the chance to see several aged original characters reprise their roles.  The most shocking comparison is Charlene Tilton who, since 1979, has aged rather dramatically.