Maybe I'm Gravy

Tearing Apart the 2012 Grammys

Nathan Archambault — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:23:53 -0500

Last night I watched the Grammys. Today I jotted down a few observations.

On Sunday night, the nation tuned into the Grammy’s. Well, two parts of the nation: the part who cared about the incredibly boring state of mainstream music. And the part who wanted to see what the Grammys would do for Whitney Houston. By half past eleven, both parts were equally disappointed. Without a good awards show to keep me entertained, I started making observations on what went wrong.

A lost opportunity to wow the world. Saturday night’s tragedy gave the Grammys a chance to be epic. Every girl alive in the ‘90s was brought together by the loss of the most empowering diva of our time. Someone joked that the Grammys offed Whitney Houston to boost the show’s ratings. And there’s no doubt that more people tuned in because of the news. But with barely 24 hours to prepare, the show’s producers either couldn’t or didn’t take advantage. After the heartfelt opening monologue by a grown man called Ladies Love Cool James, they hardly mentioned Whitney until her all-too-short tribute by Jennifer Hudson. Had they pulled off a fitting tribute, these Grammys could have been remembered as the best of our generation. Instead they left a lot to be desired.

Smoking out the elephant in the room. LL Cool J couldn’t have done a better job getting to the point right away. We all knew it was coming and he didn’t waste any time. His prayer did a great job celebrating her life and not mourning her loss. It was a touching reminder that her music would always be with us even if she was gone. I even liked that he opened with a prayer and acknowledged that praying wasn’t for everyone, but it was the thing he would do. And it felt right.

The screen was freakishly void of helpful information. Leading into performances, scanning the famous faces in the audience, listing the nominees. There were no graphics. We were never told what we were looking at. Are the producers so naïve that they thought everyone watching knows every song and who everyone is? They could have been converting the curious into new fans, but they dropped the ball. It was a strange decision.

Best New Artists that have been around for a while. Seems like this happens every year. The Best New Artist category is full of acts that have been around for a while. Lots of cheers went up when the award went to Bon Iver. (Pronounced: I don’t care). I’m not a fan, but at least he represented indie rock, a genre that was painfully underrepresented throughout the show. (Foster the People also made an appearance, but I don’t count it because no one knew who was playing at the time). This year, there was no Arcade Fire. No Kings of Leon. No Jack White. And I’m just listing the indie acts who have gone mainstream.

Everyone loves Adele. But why? It’s science! Some of her songs feature something called an appoggiaturas, which is a note that creates a slight dissonant sound with the main melody, creating mini-roller coasters of tension, followed by resolution when the main melody returns. Great for Adele, but bad for the collective emotions of the world. It’s only a matter of time before more music stars rely on science to craft their songs.

Nikki Manaj tried way too hard. Really, heckling the church? This is your idea of being controversial, 30 years after Madonna did it? We get that you want to be the next Lady Gaga, but you need to be original if you want to be controversial. I took offense not for any religious reasons, but because it was pointless. And the song was horrible.

DeadMau5 is mainstream? When did this happen? DeadMau5 wants this? I guess it’s easier to embrace when you wear a friendly mouse mark every show. I also loved how DeadMau5 displayed Skrillex's phone number on his t-shirt. Not that I know who Skrillex is, but I imagine that his name is an onomatopoeia for his music.

Fuck off, Chris Brown. Twitter does not like Chris Brown. The people in charge of the Grammys, specifically executive producer Ken Ehrlich, seem to love him. Despite Chris Brown’s tendency to punch women repeatedly in the face, he not only performed, but took home an award. This, one night after one of the most famous victims of domestic abuse of all time was found dead in her bathtub. His whole participation felt wrong because it was wrong. Equally as disturbing was Buzzfeed’s observation that not every women hates Chris Brown like they should.

The ads were worth watching. Overall, the ads were strong. Brands have figured out that big-time mass marketing opportunities exist outside the Super Bowl. Target took center stage (and, by sponsoring the Grammys Live iPad app, center screen). I loved the Color Changes Everything spot, which had a great score and playful choreography. Target’s Adele spot was also a big winner. Everyone knew Adele was going to rake in awards and the decision to feature Rolling in the Deep in an ad was worth every royalty penny. Chipotle made the wise decision to run their full 2-minute Willie Nelson-fueled, stop-motion masterpiece Back to the Start, featuring a Lou Reed-like crooning of Coldplay’s The Scientist.

Where was Shazam? About halfway through the show I tweeted about my disappointment that there wasn’t a Shazam integration. After it was retweeting about nine retweets, @NicoleSorice posted a link to this tweet from @TheGRAMMYS saying that there actually was an integration, meaning that Shazam’s lack of exposure was the result of a poor marketing effort, not a nonexistent one. Shazam, this is the Grammys. You help people discover music. How could you not have plastered yourself all over the Grammys? I tried Shazaming a song thrice and twice was met with the disappointing “No Match.”

Grammys Live, the app. I tried it. Briefly. I was hoping for a second screen experience that complimented the live show, preferably that gave more information on performers and nominees. But that’s not exactly what the app had to offer. You could watch live, a nice touch, but not something I was looking for in a second screen. There was a list of who won, which was great since they only gave away about five awards given away in 3.5 hours, and the few awards they did hand out were not accompanied by helpful graphics. I checked out the barrage of Grammy-related tweets, but I preferred the barrage of Grammy-related tweets in my own Twitter stream. For more on the failings of the Grammys Live app, read this article.

Getting the spins with the Glam Cam 360. People tune in to the pre-show to check out the outfits. This year featured a new 360º view of all the hottest and nottest dresses. This was accomplished by placing cameras in a circle and having the stars stand still in the middle. It wasn't pretty (seeing the cameras, the clashing colors of the background) but it was a cool effect. I would have liked to have seen the Glam Cam 360 pulled into the Grammys Live app so I could control the rotation and viewpoint, but no such feature was offered. Fail, Grammys. Fail. This was a second screen integration begging to happen.

The highlight: Adele. No question about it. Her whole story is too good. Her return from throat surgery in October. Her show-stopping voice. Taking home 6 awards, tied for most ever by a female artist. The only negative? Her utter greatness made the rest of the show feel mediocre. Adele, take it (and your 6 shiny new Grammys) away!

Gravy of the Week: 06

Nathan Archambault — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:07:00 -0500

TYPE N WALK

Text walkers. They're the worst. Of course, at one point or another, we all deteriorate to their distracted level. It's not our fault; texts must be sent and standing still is a horrible alternative.

Type n Walk helps prevent your next text walking collision. This app gives places a view of the upcoming street in the background as you type your messages, helping you dodge unpreoccupied, non-texting pedestrains. Next time someone bumps into you while they're texting, "Get Type n Walk, jackass!" might be the the most worthwhile riposte.

Download the app.

Visit the Type n Walk site.

Gravy of the Week: My favorite campaigns of 2012.

Hyundai.com

Nathan Archambault — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:49:00 -0500

Hyundai had 5 spots play during the Super Bowl and they all led to the newly redesigned Hyundai.com.

Gravy of the Week: 05

Nathan Archambault — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:00:00 -0500

PROCTOR AND GAMBLE

I’ve even seen real ads that interact with fake ads before. But this week Proctor & Gamble pulled of an unprecedented twist on the ad-within-an-ad concept: the first-ever co-branded commercial.

Make no mistake, they’re for Old Spice Body Spray. But these ads feature two real P&G products that interact. Terry Crews, the other dark-skinned, non-shirted Old Spice spokes-hunk, busts into the other product’s ad to announce that Old Spice Body Spray is “so powerful it sells itself in other people’s commerciiiiiaaaaaaaals!!!”

Again, Old Spice manages to knock down the 4th wall to blend reality and advertising. After every new Old Spice spot, it’s tempting to wonder if they’ll be able to top it. Most marketers would run out of steam or get lazy and bask in their own glory, right? Not Old Spice. As these two unprecedented commercials prove, they haven’t hit the wall yet. And even if they did, they'd blast right through it.

Not only are these spots humorous and unexpected, they show that P&G understands that it’s OK to use Charmin and Bounce in the best interest of Old Spice. Most conglomerates would balk at this type of request - to come across as the afterthought and the foil. But these other P&G brands get some exposure, and come across as cooler for being associated with Old Spice. I wouldn’t be surprised if they even chipped in some money to get these ads produced.

But it’s not all about what these commercial are. It’s about what these commercials do: they reinforce the brand attribute they’re trying to sell: power. Next time someone is looking for a powerful body spray, they’re going to remember the brand that’s so powerful it busted into another product’s commercial.

Gravy of the Week: My favorite campaigns of 2012.

Gravy of the Week: 04

Nathan Archambault — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:29:00 -0500

XBOX: KINECT STAR WARS

Like last week's Gravy from Volkswagen or Nike's Make It Count Anthem, this 2 minute video leans heavily on a surefire formula: pop culture and the familiar. Luckily for Xbox, marketing that uses Star Wars isn't going out of style anytime soon. People just straight up like Star Wars too much. So why shouldn't marketers take advantage?

This time around Darth Vader and Chris Pratt from Parks & Rec (who plays Obi-wan Kenobi) reenact an iconic light saver battle. Of course, it's not 100% authentic to the original scene. Prankster Chris just fucks around. And why shouldn't he? It's his video game, he's the one controlling the character, and he can do whatever he wants. And if his character dies? Well, he starts another game.

The point is made: You can wield a light saber and unleash your inner Jedi like never before. And when you do, it's your call what kind of Jedi you want to be. Tackle the Empire as serious as Yoda on a rampage or get nutty like Han Solo at Mos Eisley Cantina. It's now possible to mess around in every far-reaching corner of the Star Wars universe.

Like a few other recent video games ads, the marketing for Kinect Star Wars is self-aware. The point of video games is to have fun and marketing shouldn't ignore that aspect of gameplay. Some people are in it to complete the objectives of the game, but there will always be other gamers who just wants to fuck with Vader. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Gravy of the Week: My favorite campaigns of 2012.

Gravy at the baggage claim

Nathan Archambault — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:25:00 -0500

Transparency. It's a buzzword, a cliche, a hidden marketing Valhalla that every brand wants but few can achieve. What happens behind the scenes is often not fit for public eye, after all. When a brand claims transparency, it's sometimes real but often faked and rarely comprehensive. Whatever category this video falls into, I like this simple effort from Delta. It's the journey of your bag between the moment you drop it off at the check-in counter and when you find it circling the baggage claim. Where did it go? Who did it meet? Did it have to pay for snacks? Delta may not be telling the whole story. They may have hired actors or scoured every signal terminal to find the most photogenic, but the message is clear. Delta understands that how they handle your bag is a small but important detaill. This video is a refreshing look behind the scenes, one that provides peace of mind.

Chew For the Loot Facebook App

Nathan Archambault — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:49:00 -0500

Replace your boring pearly whites with a shiny, blinged out grill. Want to taste the money? Head to the Facebook app.

Gravy in the digital age

Nathan Archambault — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0500

NIKE: MAKE IT COUNT

Nike had a good week. They released the Nike FuelBand which is going to follow in the footsteps of Nike+ in becoming the best running companion out there. There were other sports tracking bands that came before it, but the FuelBand is better because it's Nike and it's better executed and it's cooler and it works better and it had a way bigger budget. As if that isn't enough, to announce the FuelBand, Nike put together the following mind-numbing montage of pop culture awesomeness. When you put this many iconic moments together back to back to back, it's a guaranteed non-fail.

There's no question Make It Count is more then a nice tag - it's a damn good life philosophy. The more I thought about it, the more it sounded familiar. Scanning the more recent dark corners of my memory, I remembered a quote I'd seen on Facebook. It was my friend Stefan Haverkamp's favorite quote of 2011. And I took a liking to it. The heart of the quote is this: There are adventures out there to be had, and you best not forget it. I'll be the first to admit that slouching in front of a computer stringing together 140 character thoughts is a great time. But don't forget that so is Googling a ski trip or a backwoods hike or a local community event from time to time, then get out there and do it.

Travis Rice on finding authenticity in the digital age. Which is hard to do if you forget to try.

"You know it's funny what is happening to us. Our lives are becoming digital. Our friends now virtual. And everything you ever wanted to to know is just a click away. Experiencing the world through endless second hand information isn't enough. If we want authenticity we have to initiate it. We will never know our full potential unless we push ourselves to find it. It's this self discovery that inevitably takes us to the wildest places on earth.

And when it comes down to it. It's pretty simple. Adventure is what you make it. And weather it's the travel, the discovery or just the feeling of letting go. The only way we'll ever find out, is to get out there and do it."

- Travis Rice

Gravy of the Week: 03

Nathan Archambault — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0500

VOLKSWAGEN

I hate that I love this ad, but I love that I love this ad because it's great. I mean dogs, Star Wars, music... that it has nothing to do with Volkswagen doesn't matter because the people will fall in love with it. Plus it elicits memories of last year's sweet Super Bowl spot. Chalk up a win for V Dubs.

Gravy of the Week: My favorite campaigns of 2012.

Gravy with a side of moustache

Nathan Archambault — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0500

WHEAT THINS

I'll say this: doing things is great. In theory anyway. In real life, there's usually red tape in the way. But ya know what, red tape didn''t stop the Berlin Wall from being torn down and it didn't stop the riots in Eqyot from toppling their 30-year-old government and it didn't stop Kim Kardashian for getting married for 72 days. So the Do-Minatrix sweeps in and tells you to cut the red tape in your life and see what's on the other side. Who knows, maybe you'll like what's out there.

New work from the Wheat Thins team at AKQA New York. I'm a fan and I'm looking forward to more advice from the 'stache.

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