Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO of the Linda Kaplan Thaler Group and author of the current bestseller, The Power of Nice.
Her remarks begin with the claim that the 30 second commercial is dead or on its last breath. A familiar concept but one worth review with the conference theme of Reinvention. Actually she admits right away that she’s given this speech many times over the past 5 years and her message is the same. Well, if no new insights for the group, let’s hope it’s at least entertaining. Whew! It is a romp of quips and video clips.
The first video explores what life might look like in 2016 after consumers tire of all other media like the internet and wireless. In this imaginary universe, the 30 second spot makes a comeback a la Izod and checkered Vans. The paradigm shifts back to “You’ll take what we give you and you’ll like it!” where consumers tire of telling companies what they want and getting it. Instead they want to go back to being passive cows. Next thing we know the video tells us the 30 second spot wins a lifetime achievement award and an even more ridiculous assertion…George Bush wins his second Nobel prize for his achievements in astrophysics – Ha! That one sent the crowd roaring for a full belly laugh. Lots of marketers flew in from the blue states I guess.
The next bit is "Miss 'I don’t know how to view a roughcut' Lady" – Thaler says that when her career working on commercials is over, she is really going to miss the young inexperienced clients that she’s worked with over the years – especially those with a penchant for stating the obvious – ouch.
Dogvertising (hey, that looks like my bulldog Utta up there!), tummy-itizing, ads over urinals – all new forms of reaching consumers. She thinks the “babyberry” is next on the horizon with children scheduling their own playdates.
Her agency does lots of pharma ads. And according to Thaler, morale has skyrocketed since they won Zoloft :) The jokes just keep coming and she has the audience right where she wants them.
Companies are starting their own networks like Budtv. Since Walmart does everything supersize, she suggests via video that they may actually merge with the United States and offer consumers a large mayo and a copy of the constitution in one superstore. Ok – not so amusing in text but trust me, the video example was worth a smile.
She says product integration has gone a bit too far infiltrating every tv show. With the demise of the 30 second spot, what are the advertisers to do? God forbid consumers actually pay for the content they watch. Well she knows that aint happening. Instead, my god, we could actually become a nation of readers. Now she’s really out there. Can you imagine the mass public actually understanding the plot of Syriana? Come on, back to planet earth. Again, more imaginative thinking. She knows this is too outlandish to take seriously and gets lots of laughs.
She’s tired of people saying that Advertising is so cutthroat. Rather than trying to steal share from others, we should be focused on doing our own marketing better. Rudeness is at an all time high – (good set up for her “nice” book). Everything is depersonalized with no relatedness. Funny ad where the banker calls his customer 10 different names in a one minute interaction- we all laugh.
Again she says that 30 second spots will fade into the sunset. Let’s all bow our heads and pay tribute to the dying art form that will one day be reinvented into extinction. Last in her talk is another video montage of memories of commercials that we’ll all miss. It suggests a future where Agency of the Year is comprised entirely of outsourcing firms in India. Hmmmm…that one made a few people squirm.
In Q&A – she suggests that you need more than great advertising, you now need leadership and integrity in its people that extends to the brand like P&G. More on this in her book. Did I say she wrote a book with a big smiley face on the cover? But what about the “Backstabbing your coworkers for Dummies” book I bought in the airport?
What has accountability done to the creative process?
Can we become a nice industry? She thinks we’re all born with the nice gene and mean is so unproductive. “Mean is soooo last millennium.”
In sum: quite entertaining, brief – and a great tongue and cheek look at our industry and trends.
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