Ida Kerski, Welcome Home

I haven't sat down to blog in a couple of weeks.  The main reason is because for a large portion of that time, I was in Arizona to attend my Grandmother Kerski's funeral.  I think my mind has been too preoccupied with weighty thoughts that I'm ill-prepaired to write about at this point in my publishing journey.  So I stayed silent.  

Luckily, music always give you the right path forward.  The path it gave me was to want to share to the world a lovely little album by The Welcome Wagon.  This minister and wife team had the good fortune to become friends with Sufian Stevens, and his fingers are all over this record.  Basically, he uses Vito and Monique as instruments themselves, and adds their voices to his already well-developed sound.  If you have missed hearing new music from Sufian as much as I have in the last couple of years, this will keep you occupied.

Also important to understand is that this is not a secular record.  It is full of child-like gospel.  And that is why this record is important to me now.  My grandmother was a devout Catholic.  She believed with all her heart and soul that Jesus is the answer to all life's ills.  When I was a youth, this perplexed me.  How could you give yourself up to such an abstract thought?  This was an internal battle between heart and mind I took many years to fight.  And, like almost all of us, it still wages on.  But what I've come to understand is that we all believe in the abstract.  That's what makes life wonderful.  Art, Music, Religion, Love - none are science.  And all are wonderful to ponder.  

I miss my grandma, but I know her spirit lives on.  Her heart was as big as the world, and she gave each of us as much as she could of it before resting one last time.  I hope to give my piece in full to my family and friends.  And now, because of timing, The Welcome Wagon will always be a tangible object I will use to think of the intangible nature of a great woman.

Monday Morning Quarterback #4

The Raconteurs - Old Enough

This morning on my way to work, I was feeling especially chipper.  I knew I was very close to securing new position at my agency, I had a wonderful weekend with my family and friends, and there was a NPR pledge drive, so there was no reason to listen to the depressing news on the economy.  So that means it was Jack White time.  He and his second band is like a pocketful of 70s sunshine.  And this cut is especially cheery with it's Appalachian violin.  Plus, sometimes you do have to learn to admit you know absolutely nothing.

Old Enough - The Raconteurs

Superbowl Ad Nauseam

The Superbowl game itself turned out to be a classic.  Very entertaining, even if both teams gave up way too many peanalties.  However, the real game (the one for your wallets) was probably the worst in the game's history.  And there are two main reasons why marketers should change their strategy to make these 30 second budget drains into something special.  

First, the formula is tired.  Back in the day, Superbowl comercials were an outlet for extremely creative people to come up with very funny, very outragious skits.  In my lifetime, I can remember dozens of ads that were sincerely memorable.  But we are now on Superbowl 43.  43!  So much of this has already been done.  My god, there was an ad last night with Monkeys in it.  The agency that pitched that reatread should be shot.  

Secondly, You Tube has made 'funny' in commercials absolutely obsolete.  Back in the golden age (oh, 5-6 years ago), if you were a taleted creative, commercials - and especially Superbowl commercials - were your chance to shine.  Now, each and every one of us gets bombarded with amazingly hilarious clips each week from our friends.  The social aspect makes us like these pass-alongs even more since they come from people we know and trust.  I think America is getting sick of ad agencies telling us what is funny.  My in-box is already filled with stuff that blows anything away from Sunday.

So, how do you make it better?  What needs to change?  It's not just slapping your URL at the end of a spot to be 'digital'.  You need to make the commercial into an actionable event that will keep people talking.  And the only ad that hit a grand slam last night was Denny's.  FREE BREAKFAST FOR AMERICA!  That's a pretty amazing message.  The ads were funny enough to draw you in, and then give you the best news you could have possibly received if you didn't have any skin on the game between the two teams.  Don't believe me?  Check out the searches after the superbowl on google:

Denny's got it right.  2 of the top 8 searches involved this giveaway.  They engaged all of us watching, and got a ton of people to at least find out where their closest one is.  I searched myself and found out I have two that I pass on my way to work every day.  I had no idea.  That was how invisible Denny's was to me.  Now I can point them out on the highway.  And for their marketing team, they have measureable data to show just how successful their buy was.  And measuremnt is power and freedom to try the next idea.  Even at Superbowl ad prices, that's a hell of a deal for their brand.