Across The Sound #32

Joseph Jaffe ran "Noise" on episode 32 of Across the Sound. As he correctly surmised in his comments after playing it, it actually was an audio comment. Here are the lyrics:

You say what's wrong with the advertising business? It's like a sickness. They don't get this. Make an ad that will make my brand real cool But you're a fool, cuz it's time for a retool.

People say they all hate 30-second ads It's just a tad of that fad makes me extra mad. It's like we're having a one-way conversation, Preoccupation with reiteration

CHORUS (Noise, Noise) It's just static (Noise, Noise) It's problematic (Noise, Noise) Symptomatic (Noise, Noise) of a fanatic

New World Order outside the brick and mortar Super Bowl ads will be fads by third quarter Gotta be edgy, so we hire Crispin Porter But you know it's like a brain disorder

We do the talking but then we don't listen to the folks we provoke by dismissin' what they got to say when they speak their mind Flying blind and now we redefine

CHORUS

OBLIGATORY GUITAR SOLO

CHORUS

This was kind of my way of wrapping a few messages up into one audio comment. First of all, the song lyrics themselves are an expression of the frustration with big advertisers who simply turn up the noise level and ignore their customers, while those customers are being assaulted with more broadcast messages every day. In short, advertisers like to shout, but they hate to listen.

And then there's the message inherent - In my earlier post to Joseph on my blog, I mentioned that "Noise" took just 3.5 hours from concept to finished product. (Yeah, it's not something I'd groove to on a Saturday night - I know. My songwriting skills have gone to shit since I started this whole advertising thing...) But the notion of professional recordings, professional videos, professionally-produced content in general coming from the basement studios of millions should be something that completely scares the crap out of the traditional media business.

If I can produce a professionally-mixed recording cheaply, if Joe Blow can make a documentary for under $1,000, if people end up wanting to make their own music videos instead of watching the crappy ones on cable TV - well, you get it.

Anyway, toward the end of the episode, Joseph asks if anyone would pay 99 cents for "Noise." I hope not. You can download it here for free.

Also featured on episode #32 was an audio comment from friend and client Sean Cheyney. He sent Joseph an audio comment about Hasbro's Oozinator, and asked whether he thought the agency pulled a fast one on Hasbro.

I'm not sure. I know kids have a fascination with ooze, but I've never seen it advertised in, um, quite this fashion. It reminded me of certain spams I've gotten for bukkake porn.

It does make me wonder if maybe the creative folks at Hasbro's agency saw that they had to come up with a campaign for a lame product and decided to engage in a little "wink, wink, nudge, nudge" humor. If so, they're laughing at the client and not with them, because unless this is some sort of orchestrated stunt, Hasbro wouldn't let a kid's commercial with such flagrantly sexual overtones anywhere near the airwaves.

It's A Thread, Dammit

I don't know exactly when it happened, but at some point "thread" turned into "string" when referring to a discussion via e-mail, blog, message board, etc. It's "thread," people. The back and forth banter that is sum of the component threads is called a "threaded discussion," not a "stringed discussion." So quit telling me to reference the "attached string." It's a thread.

IDC, LiverPerson White Paper Has A Funny Definition Of "Engagement Marketing"

From a white paper that I downloaded a couple minutes ago:

Engagement marketing requires four key elements to succeed: * An ability to identify high-potential visitors while on a site * A framework for engaging those visitors at the right time with the right message * An engagement support staff well trained in e-sales and e-service skills * Robust reporting to assess and finesse engagement marketing programs on a continuous basis

I beg to differ. To me, engagement requires:

* A human voice, rather than machines * Conversations, not "messages" * A willingness to talk to ALL customers, rather than just the ones seen as "high-potential."

IMHO, engagement can't be faked. Yes, we can use technology and machines to help us, but we can't let those machines take the place of legitimate dialogue, or let them replace real conversation with pushed "messages."

More Banning

MarketingVox tells us about a Republican-sponsored bill to restrict access to social networking sites. The bill, as it's written, has implications for sites that offer interactivity like bulletin boards or chat, as well. Looks like the equivalent of using a bazooka to swat a fly. It severely limits interactivity or expression for American kids under 18. Why we can't just get parents to pay more attention to their kids is beyond me.

In any case, it ought to be fun (NOT) to watch website operators scramble to figure out a way to kick off all under-18 participants in their open-access forums and such.