Expectations | Lovescott

Posts Tagged ‘expectations’

Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should

Tags: "Love Scott & Associates", Bill Love, branding, Christmas, Christmas Music, expectations, funny, Music, rant
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment 12/10/2010

Let me get the disclaimers out of the way upfront. Crying child

(1) I am an unapologetic traditionalist when it comes to Christmas. Don’t move my Christmas cheese.

(2) The opinions about to be expressed are mine and even though they are rich in undeniable truth, I fully recognize that no matter how wrong you may be, you may not agree with them. Please try to get over it.

(3) If I come off as old and grouchy, it’s because I’m old and grouchy.

Every year at this time, when Christmas music begins filling the airwaves, I begin compiling in my mind a list of Christmas albums that should never have been made. There certainly is no shortage of Christmas music out there and if you listen to enough of it, you will eventually hear songs that you will consider a waste of time and resources. The body of Christmas music was probably fully realized years ago and anything recorded after that is simply redundant and adds no value to the body of work. And unless the music brings something totally new to the arena, I have to wonder why, other than a holiday money-grab, these recordings were ever made in the first place.

Just because you have access to a recording studio and you think you could sell a few Christmas albums to a tiny group of diehard fans, doesn’t mean you should try to find 10 or 12 holiday songs to fill a CD and promote it as if it were something new. It will more than likely end up on someone’s list of Christmas music that never should have been made.

For instance, anything recorded for Christmas by the Ronettes or any other studio girl-band from the 50’s and 60’s. Or anything “holidays” by James Brown. Or Bruce Springsteen, for that matter. He sounds disturbingly upset at the prospect of “Santa Claus Coming To Town!” My teeth itch anytime I hear Eartha Kitt purring, “Santa Baby” and Madonna’s more recent re-recording of that effort just proves my point that it’s possible to waste electricity and vinyl on such ridiculous songs. (Personally, I prefer Miss Piggy’s version to either one of the aforementioned.)

Chuck Berry singing, “run, run Rudolph”?… really?

If I hear Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” many more times, I may swear off of rock AND Christmas trees. I swore off of Brenda Lee years ago. I’m a huge Beach Boys fans, but… a Christmas collection? Painful! Even the sainted Paul McCartney has done some really bad Christmas songs and he’s man enough to admit it.

“Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer”, in my opinion, didn’t happen soon enough or permanently enough. And how about those incredibly talented dog impersonators barking out, “Jingle Bells”? If that ain’t a crowd pleaser! And Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” doesn’t even make a good musical background for a taco commercial, let alone adding something meaningful to the body of Christmas music.

But nothing even comes close to last year’s release of the barely anticipated Bob Dylan Christmas album. I’m a huge Bob Dylan fan, but… this one leaves me practically speechless. I’m not exaggerating when I confess that blood was spurting from my ears the entire time I listened to this collection. It was a cross between hilarious and homicidal, neither of which, I’m sure, was the intention. Listen to it at your own risk!

After listening to me rant on this subject earlier this month, my wife put the whole thing in perspective for me. She pointed out that if I had 30 days of air time that I had to fill with Christmas music for 24 hours a day, I’d end up scraping the bottom of the barrel, too. Probably so.

But let me conclude by saying to recording artists and music executives everywhere that before being tempted to add to the growing list of worthless, awful, wasteful, tasteless, irritating, redundant, ear ache-inducing Christmas music, consider this:

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

What Christmas music do you consider a waste of time, talent and natural resources?

- Bill Love

We’re up to Something Good!

Tags: "Love Scott & Associates", advice, Bill Love, blog, expectations, good marketing, Inspiration, Meals from the Heartland, Mission Assist, motivation, non-profit, Public Relations
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments 10/12/2010

I just returned from a mission trip to the Navajo Indian reservation just outside Gallup, New Mexico. It was not my first trip there. In fact, I have been there 12 times in the last four years and intend to continue going as often as I can in the future.

During these weeklong mission trips, we work to improve, however slightly and temporarily, the lives of Native Americans living on the Navajo reservation. The area where we do our work in New Mexico is situated in the second or third poorest county in the United States, depending on who’s doing the talking. So we do what we can… fixing holes in roofs; replacing broken windows; building handicapped accessible entrances to homes; chopping wood for winter warmth; running electricity to replace a single extension cord powering an entire house… the needs are endless and the effect eye-opening and life-changing. Each time I go, I come back with a crystal clear understanding of how blessed my life has been and how uplifting it can be to serve others.

But another thing the mission trips have taught me is that you don’t have to travel to Gallup, New Mexico, to find need. There is no shortage of opportunities to serve right here at home. Many of these needs are currently being addressed by non-profit organizations that are unselfishly making a very real and significant difference in the lives of others.

It was this realization, and our experience as the pro-bono marketing arm for the past two years for Meals from the Heartland, that prompted us to start an effort at Love Scott we call “Mission Assist.” Simply put, Mission Assist is an effort to help non-profit organizations better tell their stories, enhance their missions, and increase their funding. Mission Assist provides complete, coordinated marketing and development assistance to non-profit organizations at a substantially reduced charge.

It is headed by an individual who has spent 30 years in the non-profit sector, many of them at the top level of various non-profit organizations. He completely understands the problems and opportunities common to non-profits. This level of knowledge and experience, combined with Love Scott’s 40 years in marketing, results in Mission Assist having a lot to offer non-profit organizations seeking to rise to the next level of effectiveness.

But the most rewarding aspect of Mission Assist for me has been the excitement it has generated among our staff. It turns out they have generous hearts for helping advance the work of non-profits. They have embraced Mission Assist with enthusiasm and seem to get an energy boost when their talents are turned toward helping a non-profit be even more effective.

Last March, we brought a couple dozen Navajo youth from New Mexico, who had been identified as having leadership potential, to Des Moines for a week of intense leadership training. On the last day, after they had worked several afternoons for non-profit organizations serving various needs around the city, we asked them if they were surprised at the level of need in our city. They answered that they weren’t particularly surprised by the level of need, but they were surprised by the number of local organizations actively involved in addressing those needs.

I think that says something really good about the caring nature of the people of Greater Des Moines and the great work being done by so many area non-profits. It’s a pleasure for us to be able to partner, through Mission Assist, with the important work they’re doing.

Defining Your Area of Suckage

Tags: "Love Scott & Associates", ad agency, Advertising, advertising agency, brand, branding, communication, creative, expectations, funny, good marketing, Inspiration, motivation, strategy
Posted in Public Relations | No Comments 7/15/2010

I am a big Dave Barry fan. Not so big that I follow everything he writes – in fact, I just finished my first, and his latest, book entitled “I’ll Mature When I’m Dead”. It was funny. Like, sitting in bed laughing OUTLOUD hoping not to wake the kids kind of funny.

But tucked among the sarcasm, humor and self-deprecation, Dave actually incorporates little nuggets of wisdom, whether he means to or not. Last night I came across one passage that really got me thinking (one reason I liked this book so much right now was that, for the most part, it didn’t require ANY thinking).

Dave was talking about kids’ sports these days and how parents are so involved, sometimes a little too much. He cites examples like screaming on the sidelines and convincing kids of being really great at something they actually show little ability to grasp. Of his own athletic abilities as a child he said,

“I learned, for example, that even though I was not as big, or fast, or strong, or coordinated as the other kids, if I worked really hard—if I gave 100 percent and never quit—I would still be smaller, slower, weaker and less coordinated than the other kids. In other words, I learned that even though I enjoyed playing sports, I sucked at them. And understanding that you suck at some things is useful information in life. The world would be a better place if people were fully cognizant of their areas of suckage.”

Amen. I’m known for being fairly straight-forward, and will readily admit when I’m really not very good at something – math, computers, miniature golf, and swimming for any purpose other than not drowning. And it’s funny, and sometimes incredibly frustrating, when someone tries to convince me otherwise. “Oh, I bet you’d really like mini-golf, and are probably really good at it, if you’d just try.” Ummmm, no. I’ve tried many, many times, and I a) don’t like it at all, and b) really suck at it. TRUST ME.

I started thinking about this in professional terms. How many times have I come across someone who thinks they can do everything for their business? They know what their customers like, they know how to reach and sell to them most effectively, they know how to write copy for things ranging from newsletters to ads. There’s little they don’t know, and by golly, they sure don’t suck at any of this! That’s their business!

No it’s not. Their business is to make a profit (or, in the case of non-profits, to keep the organization going and growing). They are where they are in the business because they know how to do certain things really well. There are areas where they excel, and areas where they really aren’t very good. We all have these. The best thing to do is to admit what you’re NOT good at, and find someone who is good to help you! There is nothing wrong with admitting that. In fact, I admire people who do it.

I’m not going to get specific because everyone is good at different things. I just thought I’d start the reflection process for others as Dave started it for me. What are you good at? What are your areas of suckage? Are you trying to convince others that you’re really good at something you’re not? Why?

Andrea James
President

The Key To A Great Marketing Program!

Tags: advertising agency, appreciation, Bill Love, brand, branding, c-level, CEO, client, communication, creative, Des Moines Advertising agency, expectations, good clients, good marketing, great marketing, marketing, power trip, research, strategy
Posted in Advertising | 2 Comments 6/02/2010

I’m often asked what, in my opinion, is the key ingredient to creating a great marketing program. My answer seems to surprise most people, not so much because they disagree, but because it’s an ingredient often overlooked.

I think they expect my answer to be one of the following:

a) rock-solid marketing intelligence, well researched facts and figures on which to base everything
b) a well thought-out strategy that is on target and incorporates relevance and value in the proposition
c) stand-out, attention-getting creative
d) or; developing, articulating, building equity in, and then defending from all foes, foreign and domestic, a brand for your company or product.

All of those things are important to creating a world-class marketing program. But from an advertising agency perspective, I think the single most important ingredient to a great marketing program is having a great client.

I can think of no ingredient I would rank as more important. Great clients allow great marketing programs to happen. Not-so-great clients invariably end up with not-so-great marketing programs and, because they are by their very nature not-so-great clients, they usually end up blaming their “not-so-great advertising agency” for the poor performance of their not-so-great marketing program.

So, what is a great client? From my perspective, first it’s a client who deeply appreciates the importance and incalculable value of good marketing to the success of a business. They get it. They know that marketing is an investment that should realize a good return and that great marketing usually produces great returns.

Next, they are a client who knows what they don’t know. They may be a great businessperson, but unless they’re also a great marketing person, they know they should leave those chores to people trained in the marketing disciplines. They seek out great marketing people and then trust them with the company’s marketing program. Are they totally detached from the marketing program? Of course not. They supply much needed C-level input, but in doing so, they also avoid screwing up good marketing ideas by imposing their power trips on the people responsible for producing marketing results.

And finally, they encourage and reward great thinking from their marketing people. This takes guts! Giving people who hail from a totally different side of the brain free rein to be inventive, creative and cutting edge with your marketing dollars is an act of courage that I have not often witnessed in my 40 years in the business.

But I have occasionally seen it. And it’s a beautiful thing to behold when it happens. It also invariably results in great marketing.

Great marketing starts with a great client. Period.

We’ve all worked with an endless list of not-so-great clients, but can anyone out there give me an “amen” on the joys of working with a great client?

Bill Love

What I Signed On For

Tags: Advertising, creative, expectations, marketing, rant
Posted in Advertising | No Comments 3/04/2010

I’ve spent my 40 years in the advertising agency business on the creative side. Creativity was the reason I went into business in the first place. In the middle of graduate school, I looked around me and saw all kinds of advertising and noted that most of it sucked (especially the local stuff). “I can do better than this,” I remember thinking, if not saying out loud. And the next thing you know I’m in the advertising business trying to put my creativity where my mouth was.

I’ve failed more than I’ve succeeded in my 40 years. But I’ve never lost my love for good creativity. A well crafted headline in a print ad. A captivating image whether in print or on film. An extraordinarily engaging idea brilliantly presented. A message in any medium that moves the audience to get emotionally involved.

I admire a relevant story compellingly and creatively told. Period. That’s what I signed up for.

There are those (none of whom came up through the creative side of this business, however) who maintain that our business is no longer creativity-driven. Rather, they say, the advertising agency of tomorrow will shuffle the creatives out the door and replace them with business school grads who can solve a client’s business problems rather than wasting time on their marketing problems.

Perhaps. But I hope not.

To me, solving marketing problems is good business. And solving them by employing great creativity is also fun. Business is not fun. It’s work. And as a small business owner, I know. I’ve said many times in my career, as I looked over my most recent accounts payable report, “This is not why I signed on.”

I sincerely hope those who downplay the importance of creativity in our business are made to watch hour after hour of Community Choice Credit Union television spots; or are forced to read page after page of Presidents Day Sale newspaper ads where nobody seems to be able to find the proper place for the apostrophe; or are sentenced to listen to an endless stream of really bad jingles with lyrics so forced they make ears bleed; or are obliged to open envelope after envelope of direct mail letters with news of an upcoming sale so amazing that the sender begs people not to camp out overnight in anticipation of the start of the sale.

Please.

I still believe creativity is what drives advertising. Hire your business school grads if you must, but keep them away from the creatives. The two are from separate planets.

As for me, I’m going to continue betting on companies that pay creatives to craft headlines such as “The first year he owned a pro football team, Lamar Hunt lost a million dollars on it. According to lore, Lamar’s father said, ‘At the rate he’s going, the boy can’t last over 200 years.’”

Or for Crain’s New York Business magazine, “Studies show that when office elevator brakes fail, Crain’s readers fall 42.3 floors farther than other readers.”

And my all time favorite from Metropolitan Life, “A child is someone who passes through your life, and then disappears into an adult.”

That’s what I signed on for!

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