Let Them Eat Cake!

Last Fall I was in a London Hotel room watching a BBC documentary about food labeling. The reporter took all of the government guidelines for being able to make claims (low fat, low sodium, etc) and developed a recipe that fell within the guidelines. She then covered it and went out on the street. She tried to entice people as they passed to try her food that fit all of these claims. Many kept walking under the assumption the food would be horrible. The adventuress souls who did accept the offer wound up with a piece of cake. Yes, cake!

We are living in an era where the combination of food technology and marketing spin is almost lethal. You can't trust what you read and you certainly can't trust your eyes. Thanks to the new calories-on-menu law in New York City, I found out the cake slice that is 235 calories when I bake it is 680 calories when Starbucks bakes it. Now just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, Dunkin Donuts comes out with the DDSmart Menu (at least they were smart enough to know they shouldn't spell out "donut" if they were talking health) and Taco Bell goes all the way with its new Drive Thru Diet. They didn't ask me but if you're on a diet the last two places on earth you should be are Dunkin Donuts and Taco Bell.

Read my column on Taco Bell's Drive Thru Diet at http://tiny.cc/MyGbB

Privacy's Wake

Tiger Woods' hiatus leaves a hole in the marketing playbook of Nike, others.

Larry Woodard-New York

Tiger Woods has a 155 foot mega yacht built by Christensen Shipyards. Tiger named this oversized luxury yacht, commonly called the Hull 026, Privacy. The bow wake of large freighters has been known to reach as high as eight to nine feet putting boats behind them in peril. The news that Tiger is stepping away from golf, just 4 short of Jack Nicklaus’s major record to save his marriage; has stunned his advertisers. Real life Tiger is not reacting the way we believed he would. He didn’t come out and talk to the world. He didn’t explain himself. He didn’t blame the media or lash out at the world. He may not have even listened to his handlers. Instead by all appearances he seems to desperately trying to deal with his inexcusable behavior and repair the most important relationships –those with his family. How will his advertisers cope?

It has been an unbelievably rapid descent for Woods. From allegations of an affair with one woman reported by tabloid newspaper The National Enquirer a little over two weeks ago, to an early morning single auto car crash with Tiger at the wheel last week, to the discovery of a Pandora’s box, engraved with Eldrick Tiger Woods’ full name and filled with cocktail waitresses, escorts and even a prostitute; by early in the week, it was obvious this was not a nightmare but a straight up, wide awake, public relations disaster.

Nothing Tiger has done in his career to date has been the easy or expected. When we were introduced to his prodigious talent as an amateur we expected him to win. But as he become a professional and easily continued his winning ways, we began to understand he was truly special. His popularity has helped him become one of the most well paid pitchmen of all times. Now as he takes this unexpected hiatus from the game he reinvented we are left with many questions. When will he be back? How will the business of golf air without its star? What will sponsors do? What part did the media play and did it overstep its bounds?

Advertisers will forge ahead bravely and try to see what they can salvage of their sales forecasts without the help of their main engine. Nike road Tiger’s popularity into golf and now is one of the biggest players in golf equipment and apparel with annual sales in excess of $600 million. They will lead the group of Tiger Sponsors in lighting daily candles until Tiger returns. There simply is no one on the horizon with his wide appeal. Golf will take a big hit in interest and for the time being go back to being the elitist niche sport of the pre-Tiger era.

Tiger’s sponsors can be put into two categories. Those who will have to scramble to salvage their sales and marketing plans: in addition to Nike that group contains Accenture and EA Sports. The second category overtly uses Tiger but because of their target and broad-based marketing will suffer less: this group contains Gatorade, Gillette, AT&T, Tag Heuer and Upper Deck.
The media will point fingers at itself until the next ambulance comes flying down the street with its sirens blaring and a barefooted celebrity hanging out the back. The public will be split between those who are growing increasingly ravenous to eat its celebrities and those who had had enough the day after the crash.

Tiger on the golf course has shown an unmatched ability to take a game where many things can’t be controlled such as the weather and the lie of the ball and somehow make everything work o his advantage. Golfers the world over believe golf mirrors life. Tiger can only hope so. Advertisers hope so. Many golf fans do as well.

I predict Tiger will be back. New Tiger will be changed like Moses after the mountain experience. He will better understand his mortality and his place in the world. He will savor his time on the field of play and recognize it is a blessing and a privilege. He will be a better endorser because he will no longer be invincible and that will make his success even more appreciated and revered.

read my abcnews column on Tiger.

Holiday Helping

Many holiday celebrations from Kwanza to Hanukkah from Diwali to Christmas emphasize selfless giving. As the world’s wealthiest nation, America, even in a recession, has millions upon millions to give to those less fortunate and to organizations that assist them. The internet with wonderful sites like http://www.charitynavigator.org/ has made informed giving easy. During this holiday season, I’ve compiled a list of traditional and not so traditional charities that I’ve supported. I urge you to make a donation to one of these or find your own.

Angel Tree-The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program provides new clothing or toys for children of needy families, with angel tree’s often found in high-traffic areas such as malls, churches and corporations. Each tree is decorated with numbered paper angel tags with the first name, age and gender of a child who will receive the gift. To sponsor a child from the Angel Tree, simply remove one or more tags from the tree and purchase appropriate gifts for the child or children described on the tags. The organization displaying the Angel Tree is also the collection point or drop-off location for all gifts.

Africare– Is the oldest African-American led charitable organization focusing on Africa. It reaches communities in 25 countries in every region of Sub-Saharan Africa. Its primary focus is on Food security, agriculture, health and HIV/AIDS and water resource development but its reach extends into emergency response, environmental management, literacy and vocational training, micro-enterprise development and civil-society development.

UNCF-For 65 years the United Negro College Fund has been supporting the 39 member colleges of the fund, giving scholarships and advocating for minority higher education. With its famous slogan “A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste” , the UNCF has a long and storied tradition of helping minority students—many the first in their families to attend college (60%)—attend college and close the educational attainment gap between African Americans and the majority population.

Toys for Tots- The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program helps needy children throughout the United States experience the joy of Christmas; playing an active role in collecting and delivering a shiny new toy at Christmas. Local toy collection campaigns begin in October and last until December 22, with toy deliveries normally taking place on December 23 and 24. Community members drop new, unwrapped toys at toys for tots locations, which are collection boxes positioned in local businesses. These toys are stored in warehouses, sorted by age and gender, and then delivered to needy children at Christmastime.

Operation Christmas Child- Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to needy children around the world through shoe boxes or small plastic containers filled with unwrapped toys, school supplies, candy and other gifts, then shipped to needy children overseas with a personal note included. Suggested gift ideas include toys like small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, and toys that light up and/or make noise. Christmas gifts of pencils, pens, crayons, markers, coloring books and other art supplies are encouraged, as are gifts of toothbrushes, toothpaste, bar soap, and other personal care, hygiene items.

Make a Wish Foundation- You can make this holiday season special for children dealing with life-threatening medical conditions and illnesses by your generous donations to the Make a Wish Foundation of America Adopt-A-Wish program, thus helping a child’s dream come true. Make a Wish’s unique holiday donation options help grant the wishes of children, creating special memories for the wish child and family. Those who adopt a wish by making a donation are provided a unique and special story of how your donation bought joy to a wish child.

My Two Front Teeth- My Two Front Teeth is a non-profit, charity organization that provides donated toys to underprivileged children in daycare, preschools and community agencies. You can donate toys online; just sign up to receive an email notification prior to the holiday season, choose a child to sponsor and purchase and donate toys to children in need via My Two Front Teeth. My Two Front Teeth offers a personalized, online gift-giving experience to aid underprivileged children. Children are selected through community organizations and allowed to individually pick their one holiday wish.

Click here to read my ABC column about how the Advertising Industry through the Ad Council and The PDFA donates its time and money to raise awareness about quality of life issues.

Tiger Tales: Rumors Abound

Recent News May Increase Respect For Woods’

Accomplishments on and off the Golf Course.

As most Americans, full from our Thanksgiving meals, were just entering into the deeper stages of sleep; Tiger Woods was pulling out of the driveway of his Isleworth, Orlando home. He wouldn’t get far. According to police reports, his 2009 Escalade SUV hit a fire hydrant and then a neighbor’s tree in a single vehicle accident. Woods was transported to the hospital where according to some reports he was treated for facial lacerations. Now he will be treated to media speculation and rumor on a global scale. Reporters are already speculating about why he left the house and if there is any connection to recent published rumors (The National Enquirer) about an affair.

33 year-old Tiger Woods has won 82 times around the world. He wins an astronomical 30% of the time he tees the ball up a feat never approached by any other golfer in history (for perspective legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus trudged along at a 15% pace). He has been an exemplary role model for sport in general and golf in particular since he entered the limelight at 2 years old in an appearance on The Mike Douglas Show. Over the past 31 years his every move on and off the course has been scrutinized.

By every account, Woods has been a great role model. While athletes in every sport have made the headlines with their bad behavior from drug-use to dog-fighting to self-inflicted wounds to rape; Tiger has floated above the fray honoring the military, founding and financing a school and winning…always winning. He had shown us great courage and humanity while dealing with the death of a parent and career –threatening injuries to his knee. After the smoke clears on this one perhaps we should spend the remaining years in Tiger’s career respecting and admiring the difficult role top athletes play in our current society. Athletes who manage to balance great wealth, great talent and the fame tax should be rewarded by our loyalty and support.

You can also check out my comments in the ABCnews.com story which can be found at http://alturl.com/krp9

A Glimpse at the Future of Advertising & Marketing

My parents moved to Alabama when I was 27 years old. I was recently married and had started my own firm after working for a local advertising agency. A few years later, I sent them tickets to come up and visit us as well as some of their old friends. I’ll never forget the look of pride on my father’s face as we drove into the parking lot of my office. It was located in a suburban office park. Once inside he walked slowly through each office taking everything in. He put his hand on my shoulder and said approvingly, “You’ve passed me!”

That was 22 years ago. Neither I nor my father could have envisioned what great things the industry had in store for me, but I have never forgotten that look he gave me or the words he said. Today, our economy is faltering and the advertising industry is being challenged by Cyrus Mehri and the Madison Avenue project to become more inclusive. I often find myself wondering where the industry is headed and where the next generation of leaders is.

After tonight, I have no more questions. I was part of a panel discussion hosted by the National Alliance of Market Developers (NAMD) New York Chapter. I could not have been more impressed by the young people in attendance. They were bright, inquisitive, determined and undaunted. I witnessed in them the same fire I had more than 25 years ago that allowed me to forge a career out of hope and determination even when I rarely saw anyone who looked like me. They have the same fire but they are smarter and have more information than I did.

I caught a glimpse of the future of marketing and advertising tonight. It was a brilliant white light and hot to the touch. It was a group of young people who will take what you will not give them and leave it for future generations better than it is now.

Green is the new Fat Free.

During the height of the Fat-Free food craze, marketers were putting Fat-Free on food products that naturally had no fat in order to sell more product. The rush to the aisles to indulge in seemingly guiltless pleasures drowned out the voices of physicians trying to explain to consumers that Fat Free does not mean calorie free and in many instances high calorie sugar is used as a substitute for the fat extracted. Marketers are always ready to leverage the behavior changes consumers are willing to make in pursuit of strongly held beliefs. Unfortunately, it is proving to be no different with the green movement. Crossover SUV’s that were underpowered and had a disadvantage because they didn’t have the horsepower of their competitors now tout their single mile gas efficiency advantage as signifying they are the greenest car in the category. I don’t think the difference between a category average of 28 miles an hour and the 29 miles per gallon a particular vehicle gets will save the planet today. As long as we rally around quick fixes and feel good marketing messages we will continue to fall short of acting on our problems. We are fatter than we were before the NLEA (Nutrition Labeling and Education Act) legislation of 1990 required products to state their ingredients thus fueling the fat free craze. Will we be worse off as a planet because of green?

Prosopopeia

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One of the reasons I so love advertising is that it is fun. If more marketers realized this simple fact, they would probably end up selling more product and gaining more loyal customers. A few years ago my agency presented an idea to use J-Lo to advertise a new crossover SUV because it had an impressive "rear" and we felt the phrase "Junk in the trunk" would be a wonderful mnemonic. It never happened. I bring this up because I for one cannot believe that advertisers and agencies have not inundated Venus and Serena Williams agents with ideas and offers. There is currently no better duo to represent the juxtaposition of Power and Style. Prosopopeia, by the way, is a physical entity (or in this case entities) typifying an abstraction. Serena and Venus...Power and Style.