FCPNY

FCPNY
Serving free paper publishers, sales managers and salespeople in NY state

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Crazy and fun still sells.

Two industry headlines in this morning's AdMall Minute email serve as great reminders that anything is possible in advertising. Both reference recent stories in Advertising Age magazine.

First, and most timely, is Richard Sherman. At this point even the most sleepy non-football fan is likely aware of the Seattle Seahawk's TV tirade following his team's win last Sunday, punching their ticket to the Super Bowl. This pro-wrestling-meets-Darth Vader rant featured a deep cutting insult aimed at San Francisco 49er receiver Michael Crabtree, a "mediocre" player according to Sherman (who also pointed out that he himself is the best at what he does).

True? Who knows. Rude? Definitely. Inappropriate? Not according to national, big-label marketers who want to cash in on Mr. Sherman's streaking notoriety. According to the story, this is what many marketers hope for: an opportunity to ride a huge wave in the middle of an ocean of hype that is the Super Bowl. Cha-ching for Richard Sherman and his entourage of agents and advisors. Underneath the surface of this sometimes angry athlete is a very smart and savvy man. This was no accident.

Local advertising lessons: non-criminal crazy behavior by the suddenly famous can be an opportunity to latch on to. The key is to move fast and grab the wave while it's there. Super Bowl size events probably don't happen in your market so look for opportunities that do occur that you can squeeze for ad dollars.

Second is a humorous account by writer Sally Abrahms whose husband happens to be a dead ringer for "the most interesting man in the world." You know who he is..."Bigfoot once took a picture of him!" He "doesn't always drink beer, but" when he does he prefers you probably know what. The look-alike's life is full of sightings and folks who want their picture taken with him. Probably a mixed blessing. The point of the story, though, is the opportunities created for mature models and spokespeople as the gracefully aging population buys more goods and services than ever before.

Local advertising lessons: know your market, know your audience and use appropriate models, terminology and scenarios to entice them.

Selfish reasons for this: if you're an FCPNY member, use your AdMall. It's a tremendous member benefit, full of data and information. It's paid for by selling CPAN network ads, especially ClassifiedsNY ads. When you sell these ads, we keep benefits like AdMall, CVC Audits, training, conferences and more flowing to you. If you don't sell the ads those benefits and your edge in the local marketplace go away. And we all know that once you lose something good, it seldom returns.

Need help with network ads, AdMall or local opportunities? Call me at 877-275-2726 or email me at tcuskey@fcpny.com and I will do all I can to assist you. Thank you!

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