Voice Mail Message = Radio Ad?

Hammerhead Advertising in Hoboken, N.J. is making a bold (read: brazen?) attempt to woo new clients. Apparently the ad agency has been leaving voice mail messages for the CMOs and VPs of Marketing at several hundred target companies. Except they aren't real voice mail messages; they are radio ads for the agency.

Neither are the radio ads disguised to sound like voice mail messages. They sound like a radio commercial that one would hear on the morning commute. You can listen to three versions of the ad here, here, and here.

I don't know about you, but if I were a busy Chief Marketing Officer checking my voice mails in the morning, I think I would be rather annoyed to find someone wasting my time with a radio ad in my voice mailbox. If you want my business, don't be spamming my voice mail. My customers don't want spam from me; I don't want it from you.

According to MediaPost's Media Creativity blog, apparently many of these targeted marketing directors feel the same way. They are disgusted with the move.

But then there are others who actually love the ads. Hammerhead has gotten a 3% response rate from the campaign; many of the respondents are delighted with the ads and excited to enlist Hammerhead in creating their own radio spots.

After listening to the ads, which are admittedly humorous, I could see how some people would appreciate Hammerhead's creativity and initiative enough to want to hire them.

And perhaps generating that "love me or hate me" attitude is good for the brand. Potential clients have to take sides. Hammerhead is defined; they're not just another humdrum agency in the sea of virtually identical ad agencies. They have personality. They are memorable. And even if that memory is distasteful to some, in others it may spark an immediate (and hopefully, lasting) fanhood.

Hopefully the customers of the clients who employ Hammerhead's unusual advertising tactics will feel the same way.

MySpace Has Found Itself!

Less than two weeks ago, according to TechCrunch (yes, the same publication now notorious for publishing the stolen Twitter documents - I'm almost loathe to reference them), MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta admitted, in short, that his company was in the middle of an identity crisis.

In an email to employees, Van Natta explained, "Our users don’t know if we’re a social portal, a music site, or an entertainment hub." He also reported that MySpace was taking steps to unify the site and "lay the groundwork to provide more clarity on our brand and business."

He wasn't kidding about taking those steps. MySpace seems to have made short work of that, announcing just this Thursday that MySpace will soon be repositioned as an "entertainment destination" specifically focused on gaming.

With Facebook and Twitter leading the myriad social networking sites, iTunes and Pandora topping the various music portals, and YouTube and Hulu dominating video outlets, online gaming seems like a good space for MySpace. The site already has several games available; it seems reasonable to believe that they could successfully expand that offering to define their entire brand. Perhaps MySpace will distinguish itself among other gaming sites by reconfiguring its "social network" aspect to remarkably facilitate and supplement its new gaming core.

Doubtless there will be much public discussion and debate in the coming days, weeks, and months, about the upcoming changes to MySpace. If minor updates to Facebook's layout can spark hundreds of "Change it back!" groups among Facebook users, it will be interesting to see what outcry arises from a complete brand overhaul of MySpace.

I, for one, am happy for the folks at MySpace, and optimistic about the future of the once-leader of social networks. This new identity may or may not be successful at rebuilding the brand; but without it, MySpace had no chance in the world at holding together. As Someone Wise once said, "a house divided...."

Lame Excuses for Being Boring - #2

Excuse #2:

"We've always been this way. This is who we are."

Being creative in your work does not mean departing from your identity as a company or as a brand. Being creative does not mean that you must become Apple, or 3M, or Southwest Airlines, or Starbucks, or Procter & Gamble. In fact, imitating other "innovative" companies is not "innovative" at all.

Being creative means proactively looking for ways that your brand can be even better at who your brand is supposed to be. Becoming even more aligned with your corporate identity, by creating greater value for your customers within that context. Be creative within the boundaries of who your brand is.

So who is your brand? What is your brand promise? Is your brand about luxury and status? Then find ways to pamper your guests in even better, more serving, more extravagant ways than before. Is your brand about family fun? Then spur on your imagination - and create amazingly fun products and environments that encourage kids (and their parents) to use theirs, too. Is your brand about bare-bones, no-frills, low-cost? Then be innovative about how you can cut non-necessities to help your customers save money. Is your brand about customer service? Then bend over backwards for your customers. Is your brand about drawing people together? Then probe for ways in which your products and locations invite people to share life.

Let your brand be itself. But make it the absolute best self it can be.