Category: Advertising

Truth in advertising

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

You’ve probably seen this hilarious spoof on marketing and advertising. If in Australia you may have seen The Gruen Transfer.

Here’s my truth in advertising:

Most people who work in advertising don’t understand advertising at all. They are too busy using other peoples money to impress themselves by making 30 second movies and highway art.

If you’ve ever worked in marketing you’ll know this truth.If you’ve ever seen who wins the advertising awards at Cannes, you’ll know this as well. It’s because most agencies don’t really understand marketing, which is the foundation of advertising. Advertising will only ever be part of marketing. Very rarely does an advertisement do what it’s designed to – Change behaviour, or heaven forbid persuade the audience to buy something.

So rather than explaining what advertising is, we’ll just let you know what it isn’t:

1. Advertising is not art

2. Advertising is not film

3. Advertising is not entertainment

4. Advertising is not about creativity

5. Advertising is not design

Advertising is not all the things most people believe it to be.

It may well ‘be’ the things mentioned above, but this can only ever be a bonus. If it is any of the things mentioned above at the expense of influencing behavior, people taking action or actually selling – then it fails as far as startup blog is concerned.

When your start up rocks enough to afford advertising remember this parable.

Engage your customers

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Really the title should say “people” – we don’t do business with customers, it’s the greatest lie of all time. People trade with people. But I just gave it that title so I could teach people this who stumbled upon this blog entry…

So here’s how we do it at rentoid.com

We have a live chat session with our people. Answer all their questions, assess their concerns and just get to know them. Tonight we are doing it at 7.30pm Aust Syd / Melbourne time.

Go here to log on: http://rentoid.com/live

You can see the startup blog author in action live and see if he (me) can deliver it all live. So tune in, tell your friends and get a shout out!

The skills that matter

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Since we’ve been going through a massive growth spurt at rentoid – I’ve been thinking about the skills which matter. The skills which will take us from start up – to business. That stuff that happens after we’ve proved our concept and people are getting involved in what we do. And here’s my conculsions:

1. Project management. We must get the stuff done we’ve been talking about with our customers quickly. They haven’t got time to wait for us to get our act together. We must deliver our promises, or lose them forever.

2. Leadership. Keep the team inspired and motivated, while maintaining the culture we believe in and have already created. Just because we are starting to achieve our goals doesn’t mean we need to invent systems, create paperwork and lose trust for each other. This is where we prove there is another way to do things in business & life.

3. Maintain Momentum. Go ‘back to back’ in sporting parlance. The ability to maintain public interest and is difficult after unpaid national TV coverage. We’ve got to keep the tap running, keep communicating and getting coverage. This is where communication frequency becomes way more important than communication depth.

Another great way to keep ’em talking about rentoid?

We make sure we deliver on all the stuff we said we’d do – refer point 1.

It’s not me, it’s you

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

This brillaint piece of communication by bringtheloveback summerzies the biggest opportunity for startups in the last 100 years. Small startups and entrpreneurs can have the conversations most large companies refuse to have. Or do in an overly  moderated environment – which just doesn’t work.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZDXfB0Rd4Q]

In truth most large dominant companies from the old production based economy are probably too scared to have a warts and all conversation with their people.  The truth might get out. Truths like, companies reducing the quality of ingredients to keep prices low.

In fact they never did. They investigated, researched and even spied. Maybe they should have just listened and conversed.

Thanks to Ross Hill for the link!

Best Pitch Ever

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

London Advertising Agency Prima, were pitching for the Ford Motor Co advertising account. This was in the halcyon days of advertising circa 1969.

They decided to do the following:

They dismantled a Ford Escort car. Took it up the stairs piece by piece, part by part and then put it back together in the board room. This was where the pitch was to take place. The people who did this were not mechanics. It was the people who would be working on the Ford account. The creatives and the account managers. The idea was entirely conceived and executed by the people who would be working with Ford on their advertising.

When the Ford people arrived for the pitch. They were flummoxed to say the least. And immediately asked how they got the car in the building?  Given there was no obvious way for the actual car to get in the building, let alone up the stairs!

The pitch then commenced with the Prima advertising team telling the story. Which no doubt included some of the trials and tribulations of dismantling & building a car piece by piece. But more so, showed all the intangibles which ultimately won them the account:

Passion, Ideas, Creativity, work ethic…

And a willingness to stretch themselves as a partner and an understanding of what Ford do, beyond that which any other advertising agency could have.

This is the benchmark. What will your next business pitch look like?

Why authenticity works

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Any disciple of the new marketing world order will tell you ‘be authentic’. And startup blog couldn’t agree more.

Here’s why: It’s refreshing.

It is so refreshing to hear a person, group of people or a small company tell the truth for once without a hidden agenda. It’s the opposite of what we’ve had for most of the past 50 years. It’s the opposite of what we expect, and usually get.

Net result is a relationship of trust is built. When this new paradigm arrives all sort of cool things can happen.

Like removing the need to advertise.

Like a loyal consumer base.

Like brand evangelists.

Like all the good stuff most large companies dream of having.

Four n twenty – Authenticity Facilitates Radvertising

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

For non Australian readers Four n twenty is a brand of meat pie, which is very Australian. A brand people know and love.

We also know that meat pies really have no place in the push for health and wellness. Pies are not a ‘healthy’ food. And quite frankly, who cares? All foods can be part of a healthy diet and trying to change your product because people can’t control themselves, does not a strategy make. It’s high time food marketers started to realise this. The so called ‘obseity crisis’ is not their issue.

Under the control of Multinational Food Giant Simplot, Four n twenty lost the ‘plot’. They started launching pathetic line extensions like ‘Low Fat Pies’ – which clearly would never change the perception of a meat pie, let alone get a non pie eater to start eating them. It’s fake and just damages the brand.

Recently the Four n twenty brand was divested from Simplot, to new owners Patties. These guys – who just play in the pastry and pie market have really shown they get it, when it comes to engaging their core target market.

Four n twenty make no apologies for what they are, the product the sell, and who they make it for. It’s authentic marketing. And their authenticity facilitated a great piece of communication.

This spot is Gold. Clearly it is radvertising.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIYC1gLSSq0]

Kudos Four n Twenty.