Brian Humek

Marketing Rule #1 – Don’t Use the “F” Word in Your Advertising

Brian — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 18:20:36 +0000

What really is Marketing Rule #1?

I’m extremely saddened by the lack of decency in advertising these days. When we think of advertising that is quite distasteful, we may think of ads with sexual innuendos like this offensive ad from Burger King. I guess it doesn’t take a lot of inspection to see this ad doesn’t feature an innuendo but a woman with a really strange sexual attraction to seven inch sandwiches from Burger King. To give Americans credit, this Burger King ad didn’t run in American markets, but was relegated to Singapore. But who was responsible for the final decision? Well, the world headquarters of Burger King is in Miami, Florida, so it was an American executive who had the ultimate responsibility for what their international division did. Burger King knows, like most advertisers, that sex sells. Maybe that should be Marketing Rule #1, at least that’s what some would suggest.

Stop the cursing

In my search for more tasteless ads, I came across a great post about why advertising has traveled down the short road to indecency. In his post, “All this F—ing Cursing Makes the Ad Business Look Sh–ty,” Dan Goldgeier says on TalentZoo.com:

We may be becoming too accustomed to using profanity, though. So we try to inject a little of this attitude into the work we present to clients. But the only reason curse words get used is for shock value. It adds a little over-the-top emphasis, as any George Carlin or Chris Rock fan will attest. However, the prevalent use of cursing gradually desensitizes us. And if our job is to perpetually push boundaries, where do we take our work from here?

Dan is so correct in the question he asks. What’s next? I guess porn stars in Los Angeles, since they are now required to wear condoms during filming of their porno flicks, will be advertising Trojan condoms in between thrusts and groans and moans. How about an elephant and donkey having anal sex with a voice over saying, “Asparagus goes best with anal sex.” I mean really, where will all end? By the way, that would be an ad for asparagus, not an ad for anal sex.

Click this….

Only if you don’t want your identity stolen

We should stop this now

But I’m not into where things will go but actually where they are starting. Please go read Dan’s post to see details about a German company and their very offensive ad campaign which blatantly uses the “F” word. But what about trying to make the “F” word in advertising funny? It takes some of the bite out of it. When a cute little elf in a Christmas related radio ad uses the “F” word by saying the word, “elfin’” instead of “f—king,” it’s offensive to some and to those it doesn’t offend, it seems they’ve already been desensitized.

Seconds and Surplus (Seconds & Surplus) is a home improvement store with three locations in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. They’re based here in the Bible belt. I bet the owners and many of the workers are probably believers in Christ and church goers. This raises the question as to why they would approve an ad with a magical little elf who uses slang for the actual “F” word. I’m ashamed of Seconds and Surplus and I’m ashamed of the radio stations that play their ad.

Believe it or not, little kids listen to these radio stations with their parents. Most of these parents are trying to raise their children to be respectful with their speech. Kids mimic radio ads. It happens all the time. They especially mimic cute little elves during Christmas season, especially when they hear those elves on Seconds and Surplus commercials.

Keep the cute ad Seconds and Surplus, but please edit it to be decent. Whether or not you use the specific letters F-K-U-C in their proper order, you still broke Marketing Rule #1 which is: “Don’t use the ‘F’ word in your advertising.

Disney Buys Lucasfilm and New Star Wars Movie in 2015

Brian — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 20:48:46 +0000

Description: Lucasfilm has been acquired by Disney. They also bought the Star Wars franchise. It was also announced that episode 7 will be released in 2015.

This blog isn’t entirely about social media and blogging and here’s proof. If you’re a Star Wars fan like I am, you’ll be interested in this news!

Global leader in high-quality family entertainment agrees to acquire world-renowned Lucasfilm Ltd, including legendary STAR WARS franchise.

Acquisition continues Disney’s strategic focus on creating and monetizing the world’s best branded content, innovative technology and global growth to drive long-term shareholder value.

Lucasfilm to join company’s global portfolio of world class brands including Disney, ESPN, Pixar, Marvel and ABC.

STAR WARS: EPISODE 7 feature film targeted for release in 2015.

Burbank, CA and San Francisco, CA, October 30, 2012 – Continuing its strategy of delivering exceptional creative content to audiences around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) has agreed to acquire Lucasfilm Ltd. in a stock and cash transaction. Lucasfilm is 100% owned by Lucasfilm Chairman and Founder, George Lucas.

Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney stock on October 26, 2012, the transaction value is $4.05 billion, with Disney paying approximately half of the consideration in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing. The final consideration will be subject to customary post-closing balance sheet adjustments.

“Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas,” said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. “This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney’s unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value.”

“For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next,” said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm. “It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.”

Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Lucasfilm, a leader in entertainment, innovation and technology, including its massively popular and “evergreen” Star Wars franchise and its operating businesses in live action film production, consumer products, animation, visual effects, and audio post production. Disney will also acquire the substantial portfolio of cutting-edge entertainment technologies that have kept audiences enthralled for many years. Lucasfilm, headquartered in San Francisco, operates under the names Lucasfilm Ltd., LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic, and Skywalker Sound, and the present intent is for Lucasfilm employees to remain in their current locations.

Kathleen Kennedy, current Co-Chairman of Lucasfilm, will become President of Lucasfilm, reporting to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn. Additionally she will serve as the brand manager for Star Wars, working directly with Disney’s global lines of business to build, further integrate, and maximize the value of this global franchise. Ms. Kennedy will serve as executive producer on new Star Wars feature films, with George Lucas serving as creative consultant. Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015, with more feature films expected to continue the Star Wars saga and grow the franchise well into the future.

The acquisition combines two highly compatible family entertainment brands, and strengthens the long-standing beneficial relationship between them that already includes successful integration of Star Wars content into Disney theme parks in Anaheim, Orlando, Paris and Tokyo.

Driven by a tremendously talented creative team, Lucasfilm’s legendary Star Wars franchise has flourished for more than 35 years, and offers a virtually limitless universe of characters and stories to drive continued feature film releases and franchise growth over the long term. Star Wars resonates with consumers around the world and creates extensive opportunities for Disney to deliver the content across its diverse portfolio of businesses including movies, television, consumer products, games and theme parks. Star Wars feature films have earned a total of $4.4 billion in global box to date, and continued global demand has made Star Wars one of the world’s top product brands, and Lucasfilm a leading product licensor in the United States in 2011. The franchise provides a sustainable source of high quality, branded content with global appeal and is well suited for new business models including digital platforms, putting the acquisition in strong alignment with Disney’s strategic priorities for continued long-term growth.

The Lucasfilm acquisition follows Disney’s very successful acquisitions of Pixar and Marvel, which demonstrated the company’s unique ability to fully develop and expand the financial potential of high quality creative content with compelling characters and storytelling through the application of innovative technology and multiplatform distribution on a truly global basis to create maximum value. Adding Lucasfilm to Disney’s portfolio of world class brands significantly enhances the company’s ability to serve consumers with a broad variety of the world’s highest-quality content and to create additional long-term value for our shareholders.

The Boards of Directors of Disney and Lucasfilm have approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, and other customary closing conditions. The agreement has been approved by the sole shareholder of Lucasfilm.

Do Social Media Managers Lie to Clients About Their Twitter Followers?

Brian — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 21:54:11 +0000

Is Your Social Media Manager a Shadowy Figure?

So if you wonder if freelance social media managers deceive their clients, maybe the following questions will answer that question. Do leopards have spots? Does Saved by the Bell have a fond place in the heart of Jimmy Fallon? Is there a tall building in New York? Is the Atlantic Ocean deep? Does Tim Tebow play football?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes… and yes.

In April, I had someone who runs a crowd funding site ask me to do their social media. Of course, they will go unnamed. My job would have been to tweet and post to Facebook. They also wanted to integrate the use of twitter hashtags with their tweets and their crowd funding campaigns.

I explored their site for days. I didn’t find many successful campaigns and it bewildered me why they had more Twitter followers than other more successful crowd funding websites. I mean, really, why would anyone follow this website? They offered little of value and they never conversed with anyone. This is what I call a self-follower. Really, they’re a self-promoter and that’s all.

Fake Followers? No, They’re Real

I asked the person in charge if their followers were bought or organic. “My social media manager says they are all organic Twitter followers,” I was told. Hmmmmm.

Then one day I heard about a new tool that can determine fake twitter followers from authentic Twitter followers. You can sign up to use their service here. It’s a tool from statuspeople.com. Just click on fakers at the top of the page.

That tool came in handy to find out the answer of whether or not the social media manager for the website, the person I would replace if I were to take the job, lied to their client. From using the tool, I found out that 66% of their Twitter followers were fake. The tool also shows the number of inactive users and theirs were 22% and good Twitter followers were 12%.

I’m not sure how often freelance social media managers lie to their clients, but in this case, the client was absolutely convinced they were being told the truth. Common logic told me that wasn’t the case. The Fakers tool, proved my point. And no, I didn’t reveal my discovery to the website owner. I’m sure when news of this tool spread, they checked their stats, or maybe not. It simply wasn’t my place to do so, since we both agreed another social media manager would be a better fit for them.

As with every business, there are unscrupulous people ready to take advantage of you, yes, even in the realm of social media. Be careful everyone because for every ten ethical and extremely honest social media managers that are out there, you’ll find at least one who isn’t.