RSSTalking Politics with Tom Messner
Our ad critic goes a second round with Euro RSCG exec Tom Messner, this time discussing politics and the presidential election. Tom was a member of the “Tuesday Team” that crafted Ronald Reagan’s influential reelection campaign ad strategy of 1984. He also worked on the election effort of George H.W. Bush. Tom talks about why negative messaging is so effective in politics — and names the three most important pieces of political advertising since Reagan’s “It’s Morning Again in America.” (Hint: They’re all negative.)
Other topics: McCain’s anti-Obama “celebrity” ad — a win because of the amount of free media it received — and advice for Barack as he heads into the Democratic Convention this month in Denver.
Mad Men
Our resident ad critic Barbara Lippert talks with Tom Messner about the veracity of the latest episode of AMC’s Mad Men.
Messner, currently a partner at Euro RSCG, entered the business in 1968, working at BBDO and then DDB, among others, before founding his own agency, Messner Vetere Berger Carey, in 1986.
The series’ take on the ad biz circa 1960 makes it look like a “buffoon industry,” according to Messner. Even so, Barbara and Tom are both mad for the latest installment. Among the subjects Tom analyzes are “stupid new-business people,” WASPs and the revival of the Catholic mass in Latin. In Sunday night’s episode, secretary-turned copywriter Peggy is shown sitting uncomfortably with a toddler in a Church pew as the priest repeats the “Oh, Lord, I’m not worthy” liturgy.
Tom also tells how DDB actually handled the American Airlines account in 1961, a coup that forced the outsider agency to speak to “establishment America.”
The New Wal-Mart Logo
Barbara analyzes the new Wal-Mart logo with Brian Collins, Chairman and Creative Director of COLLINS, a brand innovation and design company based in New York.
In a wide-ranging interview, Collins explores the issues at the heart of the extreme redesign (by Lippincott). It not only softens the colors, the font, and the case, but also changes the spelling of the store name itself, removing the star between the Wal and the Mart so it’s now all one word, lower case, followed by a yellow flower like “spark of energy”.
“Every brand has to balance the familiar with the surprising,” says Collins. He describes the new identity as “friendlier, more accessible, and broader.” According to Collins, the new logo is also more polite. “Think of an email message,” he says, “All caps comes across as rude, like you’re yelling.”
Collins maintains that the new logo is “a real jump into the future.” The old logo was “designed in an era before kinetic movement,” he points out, “Nowadays, so many platforms that the logo lives on have motion.” He asserts that the corporate identity of the future therefore has to be “dynamic and interesting across all platforms.”
Listen now and see if you agree.
The One Show Awards
In her latest podcast, Adweek’s critic Barbara Lippert talks to One Show Chairman David Baldwin about the big winners from last week’s One Show Awards, “Believe” the multiplatform campaign for Microsoft’s XBox Halo, from T.A.G. and McCann San Francisco, and HBO “Voyeur,” from BBDO New York and Big Spaceship. What do these winning campaigns– which will also no doubt get attention at upcoming award shows– tell us about the nature of emerging media? Listen in and enjoy.
Gossip Girls’ Racy Ads and Advertisers Going Green
Today, Barbara and David Baldwin discuss some smokin’ hot promotional ads aimed at teenage girls on the CW (OMFG!) and also whether advertisers are doing the right thing by going green.
Hillary and Me
In this issue, Barbara talks with Nielsen’s Andy Hartnett about the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. Specifically, Barbara skewers the now infamous “3:00 AM” TV spot which buoyed Hillary to victory in the Ohio primary election. Additionally, Barbara and Andy look at Starbucks, their new website, the $86M judgment against them, and challenges from Dunkin’ Donuts.
The Future of Advertising
In her inaugural podcast, Barbara chats with David Baldwin, former Executive Creative Director at McKinney. Barbara and David chat about the state of the advertising business, and David offers some optimistic insight into the future of the advertising industry, as it continues to be transformed by digital media.
