Top 10 movies: Marketing success or human nature?

It’s a Wonderful Life, 12 Angry Men, The Green Mile, Gattaca. These are a few of the movies on my Top 10 list. Bring together a compelling story, redemption, fine acting and a smart script, and I’m hooked.

What we watch says a lot about what matters to us. Show me your Top 10, and I bet I can make a few accurate assumptions about what you value...

This excerpt comes from an article I wrote for HighCallingBlogs.com last week. If you have four or five minutes, go and read "Culture Corner: Top 10 Reasons to Hope." You'll see the Top 10 Worldwide Box Office movies from 1999-2008, and you'll have to consider why these particular films made it to the top.

At least I had to. For you folks interested in advertising, I'll also note that this list made me consider the relationship between advertising and human need. Advertising creates awareness, encourages participation, dispenses information and influences consumer expectations. But, as I've said before, it can't create needs. You may disagree with me on this point, but I believe advertising can only borrow from what already exists.

If this is true, what already exists in us for these films to work? What do consumers need that these movies address? If there really is something to address, how much influence does advertising have in turning them into global hits?

READ MORE at the High Calling Blogs website.

The High Calling is a site about work and God.

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Lovenote to Snuggie Blanket

I recently posted on Snuggie Blankets and learned helplessness, but my eye-rolling has had little to no effect. It seems that the world has fallen in love. This morning I came across a creative bit of earned media for Snuggie Blankets at Patrol.com. Sharon writes:

Dear Snuggie,

I’ll never forget the first time my eyes met yours. I was sitting at home on the couch, cold and lonely, in a dead-end relationship with yet another blanket....

Read the rest of it here.

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Basing the future on a college slogan

According to the Higher Education Research Institute's Freshmen Survey, the top three reasons students give for attending college are:

1. To "learn about things that interest me."
2. To get a better job.
3. To be able to make more money.

If these are true, then it follows that students try to pick schools that help them achieve these (ahem*self-serving*cough) goals. The marketing question I'm curious about is, How much influence does an institution's slogan have on the decision process? Does a prospective student, fence-riding between colleges, read slogans like the following and make their decision?

"Your revolution starts here."

"Minds in the making."

"Grasp the forces driving the change."

"Where you're a name, not a number."

I don't remember my college's slogan, or if it had one, though if it did I suppose it could have played a small role in my decision. No idea. But if the topic of writing good college slogans interests you, check out this humorous article by copy-writer and teacher, George Felton (That's his book cover), and the Columbus Society of Communicating Arts from which the article came.

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Tiger, Barclays and "Fake"

I watched a bit of The Barclays Golf Tournament this afternoon. I don't catch much golf but I see enough to marvel at Tiger Woods' fandom. Unlike many celebrities who garner attention because they have pretty faces or make a splash on TV, Tiger is the real deal. Crowds stretch and shove and fly thousands of miles because it gets them within touching distance of genuine, unparalleled, talent.

And it isn't just the masses who bow. The greats in golf do the same. Here's a Nike commercial from early 2009 demonstrating the point:



During today's tournament, I caught another sign of the real deal. At least, that was the claim. I don't know enough to discern best from better in investment banking, but that's what Barclays - the bank - claimed. Maybe they aren't the best, but I sure liked their TV spot that said so:



From the agency that made "Fake": "Directed by Nicolai Fuglsig, the spot reached number one on AdCritic’s Top 20 and was also featured as the Spot of the Day. Campaign Magazine has also recognized it as the Ad of the Day..."

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David Berman: Do Good Design

Graphic designer, David Berman, recently published Do Good Design: How Designers Can Change the World. I wrote a note in my Moleskine months ago to learn more but then I forgot about it.

Today I found this video where David spells out his "three-part pledge for designers." Watch it here.

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Buyer's guide and something I'd purchase

Answers from my previous post:

• Moen disqualification: I see no conceivable reason to use a faucet extension as shown in the ad. There may be good uses for it, but this one just shows another helpless consumer wrestling out of a blanket. Regardless of the quality and actual benefits of the faucet, this presentation insults my intelligence. Won't buy it.

• Kenmore disqualification: "Why use those heavy pitchers...?" This line betrays the picture of health in several ways: Pur water filtration, healthy diet (apple and non-Kool-Aid), and the other line of copy, "Ideas for the good life." Why would a family who cares about such things spend a couple of thousand dollars, at least in part, to avoid lifting a "heavy pitcher"? This isn't a valid perk. Won't buy it.

More compelling? This pork. I'd buy it, because it really is like bowling. (Click image to read text.)

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Buyer's guide for my occasional break from thrift

I'm not quite ascetic. By birth and by religious conviction, I'm thrifty, at best. And once in a while, I even buy an extra product or service I don't need but that makes life easier. That's what this post is about: how I buy the extras.

When I succumb to this bit of self-spoiling (assuming I get through the subsequent and always-accompanying spell of buyer's remorse), I still like to know that both 1) my purchased good and 2) the act of obtaining it were necessary and intelligent. Let me explain.

1) A purchased good
By necessary, I mean that the purchased good ought to provide a service to me, perhaps practical, perhaps just pleasurable. Either way, it can't do nothing for me. By intelligent, I mean that the product must inspire and not insult my imagination, my aesthetic leanings, my logic and intellect, etc.

2) A good purchase
I also like to know that the purchasing itself was necessary and intelligent. Here, necessary means that even though the product may have been an extra, I "needed" to buy it. It was the right time, the right place, and so on (Same goes for spur-of-the-moment purchases, which are simply faster slow decisions). Intelligent means I made the decision for the right reason.

Examples that wouldn't make the cut
At first glance, the following two magazine ad products may appear to meet my "necessary and intelligent" qualifications. But they don't. One clue in each is to blame for my disinterest and disqualification: a visual clue in the first and a written clue in the second. Click on each image for a larger view and take a guess why. My reasons may be easy to spot, surprising to you or even disappointing, but guess anyway and I'll let you know in the next post.

Further questions to ponder: Do you have a buyer's guide? If so, how much is it informed by your faith? By your upbringing? Personality? Amount of disposable income?

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Subaru. It's what makes a Human a Human

Houston Heflin (Abilene Christian University) asked me about the seemingly recent marketing interest in love. Great question. Immediately I thought of "Love. It's what makes a Subaru a Subaru." Then I found more examples. Tell me about ones that catch your attention. If I get enough suggestions, I'll do another post.

Here are three for Lipton Green Tea (listen to the song), Subaru Forester and - the funniest of the bunch - Klondike Bar:







How about this print ad for Newman's Own salad dressing?


I must also include a post from last year called "Sex from a box." It definitely belongs in this line-up.

Last night, I saw a commercial for Glade Lasting Impressions plug-ins. It would have been a perfect fit here, but I couldn't find it on line. Any help?

What do I think about this marketing interest? Here's a start:

1. Lovemarks
2. Lovemarks: Part 2
3. And my interview with the creator of Lovemarks (and possibly the biggest influence behind this love trend), Kevin Roberts.

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Good Samaritans at work

I'm heading out of town for a few days, but I thought I'd leave you with a short, applicable, something to read. It's called "21st Century Samaritans," and I wrote it for The High Calling. Here's an excerpt:

Thousands of employees helped bring your chair into the world. Most of them probably never thought about being connected to each other in this grand chair-making community, but they are connected. This means they affect each other. This means their jobs are not self-contained personal enterprises. In fact, none of us have jobs that belong to us exclusively.

READ MORE at The High Calling website.

The High Calling is a site about work and God.

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Peter Jackson's District 9: On saying it well

I just learned of District 9, a movie by Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp, due to hit theaters on August 14. It's about aliens who land in South Africa.

Actually, it's about humans and non-humans and, I think, about apartheid, segregation, racial fear and globalism (and aliens). Not sure if sci-fi action is your thing, but this kind of marketing fascinates me.

First, the interactive site is captivating and extensive at www.d-9.com. There is much to do and see there, like clicking on map points to watch realistic interviews of humans discussing questions such as, "Do you feel that the non-humans are taking our jobs?" or, "Do you have a problem with the way non-humans communicate?" Substitute "non-humans" with _____, and you and I could answer these questions, too.

Second, if the movie does end up being a social commentary, then I appreciate Peter and Neill putting the time, money and thoughtfulness into saying what they want to say. (If it doesn't, you can chastise me later.)

Warning: motivation coach ahead.
Not all worldview messages require Halo-esque video game delivery, but if you have something that needs to be said; if you want to awaken people or refresh conversations about important but tiresome topics like racism, then say it well - even with aliens if you have to. Use creativity and technology and collaboration and whatever other resources you have. Tell cryptic, compelling parables like Jesus did. Advocate non-violent sit-ins like MLK did. Powerful and fresh communication methods abound.

What if you just sit in a cubicle designing graphics for Rice-a-Roni? Slim chance that you'll help ease racial tension around the world. But maybe you can employ your talents to awaken us to new ways of addressing hunger in our own D-9's. The point is, you probably have something to say. So say it, and say it well.

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