Know Ad Connect

By Ted Fox

It’s a predicament as old as the human race itself:

You run out of deodorant and go to the store to buy some more only to realize they’ve stopped making your brand, which is unfortunate because pretty much everything else you’ve ever tried has made you break out in a nasty rash.

OK, so maybe the rash thing is just me. And no, Homo habilis probably wasn’t all that concerned with underarm odor.

But if choosing the proper stick of deodorant doesn’t have Darwinian implications, my dilemma was still quite real when I found myself in this situation last fall. Complicating matters further was the fact that while I may have extensive knowledge of Seinfeld and the culture of mall food courts, there’s a real gap when it comes to the chemistry of products that suppress BO.

All I knew was that I couldn’t use something containing the ingredient to which I’m allergic (damn you, aluminum zirconium). Beyond that, I was an open book.

That’s where branding came in.

I remembered Old Spice ads like this one imploring me to “Smell like a man, man”:

Like many guys, I find these spots hilarious; as someone trying to make it as a humor writer, I also appreciate the creativity that went into them.

Had they convinced me to stop using my current deodorant and switch to Old Spice? No. But when outside circumstances put me back at square one and I was faced with a shelf full of seemingly indistinguishable options, a funny, creative campaign landed my business—even if it wasn’t always promoting the specific product I was shopping for.

(Did you notice that this ad, one of my favorites, was actually for body wash? I didn’t until I went back and watched it to write this post.)

I wish I had understood this in high school when I squared off against Rick Van House, president of Know Ad, for the coveted position of sophomore class president. Indeed, if there ever were such a thing as “seemingly indistinguishable options,” it would be the candidates in a student government race, meaning the message in your speech had better be on point.

As I remember it, Rick’s remarks were filled with constructive ideas while mine took a slightly bitter turn and focused on frustrations arising from my term as president of the freshman class. In other words, he was Old Spice, and I was the rest of the shelf.

I don’t have to tell you how that turned out for me.

Of course, the same message won’t resonate with everyone. Whether you’re outlining an expanded hall pass platform in the lunchroom or selling deodorant in aisle three, you have to know whom you’re targeting.

In the case of the Old Spice commercials, I have to believe they’re aimed at Generation Conan, which I’m smack dab in the middle of at age 31, rather than Generation Leno. Plus, I recently recorded myself doing a dramatic reading of the Black Eyed Peas’ “Imma Be,” so selling me on silly isn’t exactly a stretch.

Still, I think there’s a valuable marketing lesson here (says the non-marketing professional): Be aware of what your audience expects, and don’t be afraid to let pros like Rick and his team help you pop your head out of that box every once in a while.

Just don’t try to debate him about school dance policy.

Ted Fox serves up opinions about who isn’t so awesome daily on Twitter (@KnowWhosAwesome) and writes the humor blog “The View From the Dining Room Office.” He is represented by Marissa Walsh of FinePrint Literary Management.

If you build a house you wouldn’t start with the roof … right? You wouldn’t throw up windows before walls and you wouldn’t buy a sofa before you knew how big your living room was. So why is it that people don’t think like this when it comes to building brand campaigns?

Many are so quick to want to run a print ad, or shoot a TV spot yet they haven’t even developed an identity or a solid website to drive that traffic to. They want to work on the roof before building the walls. It will never work. Getting the fundamentals in place first is key to the success of any type of marketing. Building a solid web presence, a focused campaign goal or messages that coordinate have to be first.

Even having a staff/team that gets what the company goals are is a must. Just ask my buddy Greg Lederman, his whole focus is building from within … having people on your team that support your company mantra and get what it stands for. Without that foundation, he’ll tell you, marketing and advertising are a waste of money.

And they can be a waste of money. Many a time we’ve had to slow a client down, explain that the fundamentals weren’t there and it would be smart to back up and take a look at them. It’s the down and dirty stuff that has to be done. Many times this part is not the most fun and can be the hardest piece to develop. It’s just what must be done to make the fun stuff work.

So next time you go to implement a new marketing piece think about the foundation first. Don’t jump into something without having the correct tools in place to support it. And if you can’t figure it out … just think of it like that house you want to build. Or call Know Ad … we’ll set you straight.

Know Advertising is a small agency. We have a conference room but it sits 12 not 40. We have a staff of 10 but not 300. But when it comes to ideas we have just as many as the next guy out there and maybe even more.

The point is that, when working with a small agency we realize that even an intern or the window washer could have a good idea. Because of our non-corporate size we never shut those types of ideas out. They may be rough and need to be developed but it only takes a spark to get the concept moving.

Our creative director Don Hoenig has always said “a good idea can come from anywhere” and many times it doesn’t come from the normal mode of brainstorming. Many times ideas come during the weirdest moments. They can come when walking to get a coffee, waiting in line at the store or even when you run to the bathroom quick in the middle of a meeting.

So as you look to invest your money with an idea company make sure they have a window washer that you like