everything you need to know about getting a date and doing effective advertising

Flowers? No
Money? No (perhaps, but for the sake of argument, let's not open that can of worms)
Cars? No
Stylish dressing? No
Humor? Mehh
Good Looks? Don't hurt, but not really dealbreakers
Social skills? Usefull
Power? Hmmm...

All of the above are really just rationale that help propagate certain emotional triggers once all that matters is said and done.

So without further ado, and with an explanation following, the one thing you need to know, the only thing you will ever need to know, the thing you wish somebody had told you when you were younger... to get a date or to create advertising work that works is:

Get people to do something for you. *pin dropping*

Get people to do something for you. That's it. You don't have to believe me, and you are allowed to be sceptical.

But is it true. Under certain circumstances, which are not difficult to figure out or to set up, all you need to do, to be effective, is to get people to do something for you. Allow me to explain.

As I was walking around Berlin, I experienced something that amazed me.

Being approached by strangers, who, after spotting me and my mates standing there with camera's, would volunteer to take our picture infront of set building or whatever.

Total strangers who after taking the picture would, without being asked to, proceed to explain something about the place, ask what we had seen, so they could recommend other things and in some cases even offer to show the way or play guide. And all the while seeming to enjoy it and having a blast doing it. Absolutely amazing.

So I asked myself: would asking for it have the same effect? Would me going up to total strangers and asking to have my picture taken, have some of the same generosity effects?

It turns out that it does. Walking up to elderly, kids, mothers, police men, and off course good looking females, pretty much resulted in the same things:

1) They were more then happy to take my/our picture;
2) When given the chance to, most were happy to either walk us to some other piece of culture, tell us what they knew about that one, or exchange numbers to continue the conversation at another time.

Asking a tourist or a local was not much different as far as the actual action taken was concerned. The conversation that took place after was, but that is natural as the context changes from interaction to interaction.

This experience a bit of an eye opener. And it also helped me cristalize certain vague ideas.

First of it made me even stronger in my belief that awereness is overrated. And that people who think in terms of

1) Awereness
2) Interest
3) Action/purchase

are missing the point and are wasting time and money that clients and agencies could and should be using more wisely.

As I touched upon here, the idea of figuring out the conversion side of things down the line, is thinking that is not going to help convince clients with limited budgets and consumers with selective attention.

Start with action in mind and build from there.

1) solicit an (predictable)act (of culture)
2) create a conversation ( and in the case of brands a relationship, though remember that the one with the least invested controls the relationship)
3) allow for the experience to spread

This is a far more effective way to go about things. Perhaps counter intuitive but effective.

Why?

1) First off because by getting people to do something for you, instead of you doing something for them, you can cancel out major penny gap effects.

See people are inherently selfish. If you cook a meal for others, you do so off course to have them enjoy that meal, but there is also the expectation of getting some kind of compliment. Nothing wrong with that, but the selfishness is always around. Not being acknowlegded makes for sour grapes fast

And well, most brands, when making that piece of funny film, commercial, ambient or giving that stuff away for free, act friendly but expect to monetize on that friendship at some point down the line. But as Dan Ariely has shown us, doing business after we have been social does not work, most of the time and for most industries.

By asking for action from the other party first a couple of things happen. The most obvious is the fact that you learn the other party's flight or fight mechanism. If they don't run away, or turn hostile on you, well you got yourselve a keeper.

Always nice to know up front and not after you did your whole song and dance routine, if only to keep you from overcommiting some sterile strategy that got the ok in focus groups (kicking a ball into the back of the net during a match is still the only way to score, nobody get's point for training extra had). Which off course does wonder for the accountability of the effectiveness of an agency, as you end up doing stuff that works in the field.

Secondly from action follows belief and enthusiasm. Or more exactly the belief that "If I do something for you, well you must be ok. Because no way in hell am I gonna do something for someone I do not like. And if I like you, well I might as well like you alot."

Asking up front for action (and by the way this can be a small action, because as long as it has some cultural/social element build into it and is asked in the right context, it will resonate and kickstart our heuristic mind and thus resulting in conversion with bigger than expected certainty) we thus avoid the problem that most guys dread: How to go from friends to lovers after you've invested time and resources, making her think you are friends. Or how to convert all that awereness into action.


2) As I said here, the magic starts after the act is performed. After having asked for an act (of culture) by the other party, and this act is performed, the other becomes part of something shared. And if it is something worth spreading, he will do so if only for the simple but powerfull reason to have something new to say to friends and relatives.

In my personal experience, having my picture taken by other tourists with a mobile phone, allowed me to get the picture bluetoothed or mailed to me, my mates there and at home and all of their friends. A simple and easy way to make the act of taking a picture into something more, a story/conversation starter.

Circumstances

As I noted above, one does need to take into account certain things before asking for action.
A couple of major once are:

1) the context of asking

When I asked to get my picture taken at the subway near the appartment outside of the tourist city centre, the results were not as great. Still not to bad (as most people even though we are selfish, or perhaps because we are selfish and do it to make ouselves feel good, still want to help others when asked), but not as great. So the obvious lesson is: Context.

Right time, right place, determine how forthcoming the other will be and how effective the proposition asked will enhance the status of the one being asked in the eyes of his peers (turning down a tourist in a non tourist part of town, may not make you seem a bad city ambassador as when you do it at Checkpoint Charlie.)

2) The culture of the solicitation

As noted above asking something at the right time and place makes for better response. To upp it even more the question posed has to have some culture in it. Asking somebody to take your picture at a tourist spot, feels natural and right. Our instincts do not raise red flags. And since we are genetically trained to spot that which stand out in order to survive, we should take into account the history of humans when asking.

Asking people to look after your bag in a library, or asking for a light inside a pub, also work. One because well library = earnest= safe = off course you would watch a bag. The other because pub/club = fun = flirting, fire = danger. With the smoking ban it becomes somewhat of a law defying act thus making you seem masculine. (But this all pure speculation. Though the results were good. Better then asking for your picture to be taken in a library, or having someone watch your stuff in a club).

So there you have it folks, ask (don't give) for something that seems natural, fun and sharable and people will most likey do it, with pleasure and talk about it afterwards. All markets are solliciations, so might as well ask.

briefings and/of the future

"I came into this motherfucker a hundred grand strong
Nine to be exact, from grindin G-packs
Put this shit in motion ain't no rewindin me back
Could make 40 off a brick but one rhyme could beat that
And if somebody woulda told 'em that Hov' would sell clothin
Heh, not in this lifetime, wasn't in my right mind
That's another difference that's between me and them
Heh, I'm smarten up, open the market up
One million, two million, three million, four
In eighteen months, eighty million more "

What do you do when you sell drugs, but you figure out that your rhyming ability can earn you that much needed goal of money, cars, hoes* faster and safer? You start rhyming off course. Quite obvious really.

Now what do you do if your artform is laced with refferences with regards to luxury items, such as clothes, cars jewelry etc? Get endorsments by those? Mehh..could go that way aka the "tommy hilfigger is my nigga" namecheck strategy by Mobb Deep.

Or how about you start your own companies (RoccaWear, Roccafella Film, Roccafella records, Armadale Wodka to name a few) in one or more of the markets you are already are advertising for as a platform? Get some of that equity out of those acts of culture instead of a paycheck? Sounds more like it, right..

Well if it does sound more like it then why is it not more common?Why is Jay-z worth more than 200 million and Mobb Deep say, one or two million? Leaving aside issues of musical taste and talent, the revenue streams were there for both of them, yet one took full advantage and the other did not.

And the difference: Effectual reasoning.

Effectual reasoning is basically the mindstate of an entrepeneur. It asks the simple questions: What do I have of value?
Who am I?
Whom do I know?
Will I survive if this path fails me?

In other words it starts with the available means and the risk and works toward eliminating risk (thus gaining ways that work), instead of stating a problem and rewards and then working towards achieving those rewards.

Now why is this distinction important? It could inginite the industry again to become the force it was during the the 1960's and it is the writing on the wall for those who continue to hold on to the olden ways.

Couple of factors also make it the perfect time to stop and think about our way of working.

1) Abundance in the West
2) Growing importance of cultures and regions where abundance is not standard


Right now the tech advances are such that companies/citizens in the West can pretty much get all the supplies they need for free or at bargain prices. So the need to spot a gap in the market, which will always be important, is not the primary point of entry anymore. If most markets are without scarcity and work for free, you will need to be about more than product differentiation and pricing. You need to be about you. And this is good because?

Well everybody is banging on about authenticity, story, narrative, recession, budgets, monetization, accountability and the likes. And well, they are right. By looking inward at what you have build up in the last decades, at the resources at hand, you will find true differentiation in little acts of culture or in processes that are unique to you. Things that could help your customers within habits established, without it costing you a dime. Again I like to stress that it is not just about soft stuff, but also the hard stuff that you have under your noses. Change the point of view and they become assests.

Africa, Asia, Latin America. Powerhouses of the now to next. But also places where resources have been scarce. And will continue to be for some time. However because of the somewhat levelling playingfield via the web and globalisation, the culture of making the most with what you have and not being tide down to methods (because the only criteria you have is, does it work, as in does it feed me, give me shelter etc NOW) all of a sudden becomes a major business advantage.

You see just coming up with an goal idea and then trying to get it spread without any backend, is nice when you've got funding. When you have to fund yourself along the way, you learn the value of conversion and monetization. And who likes monetization? We all do, and clients the most.

(The next creative advertising revolution will come from the third world cultures, largely because their definition of creativity is different. It is creating something out of practically nothing, not getting bogged down in form exercises that serve no value, but that is a post for another time)

Taking these (out of many more ) factors in account, working from a viewpoint that allows for quick connections and affordable failure enables us to achieve more tangible results, hence not only making the adland industry gain that much needed Accountability tag, but it also allows us to slip in the social(ist)/2.0 principles the plannersphere has been wetting itself (me included) over, up to the C-level.

And doing it all while not costing the client any money. And that is important. Because reality is, fear still works. Fear of loss of face, job, prestige, budget etc works. Quite powerfully.

Right now it works to stop advances, because we can't convey the value down the line. But it could work in our advantage as we focus on taking away fears because we elimate the downside instead of trying to figure out the upside in advance.

Off course this is easier said then done, hiring practices will have to change at agencies, training has to change at agencies, compensation will have to change at agencies. But guess what..That will happen with you or without you.

Don't say I did not warn you. Smarten up, open the market up...





*lyrics by Notorious BIG

About the Community, by the Community: a presentation by Neil Perkin

Neil Perkin asked people to help create this presentation about (online) communities. 

Below the result.

Hat tip to all for helping and to Mr Perkin for making it something special.

A Presentation About Community, By The Community

View more presentations from neilperkin. (tags: communications socialnetworks)

Coming full circle: the evolution of gangsta rap

Gangster rap is a term coined by the mainstream media to describe a certain genre of hip-hop that reflects the violent lifestyles of some inner-city youths. Gangsta is a corruption of the word gangster. The genre was pioneered around 1983 by Ice T with songs like Cold Winter Madness and Body Rock/Killers and was popularized by groups like N.W.A in the late '80s' After the national attention that Ice-T & N.W.A created in the late 80's, gangster rap became the most commercially lucrative subgenre of hip hop (wikipedia).

Lately it is been floundering and in dire need of a rewiring. I write this as an opportunity for the entire genre to reinvent itself and to reaffirm that is it still viable and profitable.


It’s morning in the hoods of America
Straight Outta Compton, Crazy Motherfucker Named Ice Cube
From The Gang Called Niggaz With Attitudes
When I'm Called Off, I Got A Sawed Off
Squeeze The Trigger, And Bodies Are Hauled Off

NWA- straight out of compton

In 1988 NWA broke down the doors for gangster rap. At it’s purest it was a depiction of the realities of life in south central LA. It was raw, uncut, the black answer to punk rock and Elvis. Four guys from Compton were able to make White America take notice of what was going on. Yet without intent they also united black and white America behind the color green; 9 million sold of “straight out of Compton” without major airplay showed that there was money to be made in bringing the hood to America.

What followed was a flood of gangster rap. From those who witnessed to those who had participated in crime, everybody grabbed the mike to spit the truth. And a couple of things started to change from the original vision of NWA.

1. Gang affiliation started infiltrating the genre (most noticeable in the early ‘90’s via Snoop Doggy Dogg, who was/ is a Crip). This lead to the loss of independance in storytelling that had been visible in the work of NWA. Now you were telling your story, which of course means somebody else’s was not being told.

2. The celebration of wealth (in contrast to the celebration/empowerment of life that had been the dominant theme up until then via good time rap of Fresh Prince e.a or political rap of Public Enemy) started to take center stage, which in turn led to mediated tales of life on the streets being told. Characters like scarface (the movie) and the “pimp” got a polished rounding and struck a nerve with record buying public, thus even more pushing the tales that were being told in a certain direction.

3. Looking back, we can also see that, much like during the Mafia Castellammarese Wars in the 1930 in the US, when many bought “made men status” because there was a war going on and soldiers were needed (thus applying less strict rules to those who entered the organizations), cred was being sold by those who could give in on order to ensure that the one getting the affiliation would be more successful. Record companies and artists alike created a web of onscreen personas and off screen deals to ensure that the pie was big enough for all to eat of.
It worked. At it’s height gangster rap was the major genre in rap, commercially and artistically. Yet factors outside of its influence were about to bring it to its knees.


The end of street cred and the gangsta as we knew him

Picture this. You can flow a bit, and live in the hood. Maybe you’ve even dealt a little dope or hustled a bit to support yourself. You spot rap as a way out, so do some of the people in your crew. You make a record about your area and talk about the trials and tribulations you’ve been through. It’s a success. You are on MTV BET or what ever. The record company is happy, you are happy. Middle America thinks you are the reincarnation of Capone and for now you are content to keep sending out this image. Every now and then people would hear about rappers having beef (sometimes fatal) about reputations.

Those wanting to steal the throne would check somebody’s Gangsta. But because of technology and media being controllable and sender orientated, the record company and the artist are not forced to take these attacks to serious. As long as the major media transmit the image that you want nothing is in danger.


World 2.0

Well as we all know, shift happens. The first sign was the “Wanksta” track with which 50 cent ended the career of Ja rule to launch his own. 50 cent was one of the first artists to utilize alternative channels of communication to get the message out about Ja rule. He flooded the streets of New York with mix tapes, which were being bought and resold across America. In essence the mix tape was the you tube before you tube.

This plan was carried over in the age of 2.0. Rappers started making disstracks on youtube, challenging each other’s street cred and focusing mainly on showing off their (limited) wealth. The focus got lost from telling stories about what is going on to trying to eliminate the competition by discrediting them.

Basically every gangsta rapper has now become Motrin and a Motrin-Mom in one. .
So now the genre is occupied by people who’s image can be destroyed by anybody who grew up with them and has a grudge. This has lead to gangster rappers either going in hiding, on the offensive destroying others or creating alternative personas (that of someone with swagger, or that of a business man) in order to still be relevant and to capitalize on the need of a younger public to hear and buy these stories.

And after reviewing the downward sales figures of 50 cent, the major star of the genre, and those of non-gangster rap outfits Outkast or Kanye West, we can say that it has not worked. Kanye West outsold 50 cent in a first week album battle two years ago to become the biggest star in hip-hop, period. It was Ali’s phantom punch delivered to gangster rap.


Contextual rap
"I think you need a lot of context to examine anything." -Augustus Haynes The Wire episode 2 season 5.

What does it all mean? This is the question that we need to ask in order to restore the genre. Strangely enough the answer came from two middle aged white guys. Ed Burns and David Simon, co-creators of the show the Wire. A former cop and journalist/teacher who‘ve spend more than 20 years in the ghetto of Baltimore.

At its heart the show is a modern ganster rap classic. It tells everything we would be expecting to hear from rappers. It’s got gangsters, corrupt cops and politicians. But is has more. It has context.

In five seasons it took me from the towers and drugs of West Baltimore, to political Washington, the white polish working class in the harbors, the empty class rooms of schools across Maryland and via the corrupt media desks back to the drug fields of West Baltimore. It showed me what it all means and how the dots are connected. That is also the power of gangsta rap. It has the allure. We all like the bad guy, we are fascinated by this archetype. So let’s use it to give people their medicine with it.

The so called “backpack rappers” like a Kanye West or Outkast do sell. They sell big time. But in my view they would lack the appeal to talk about the wider social issues, that a Jay-Z or DMX would have. Their starting point is the gritty tales of the criminal. That they take you on a social journey as well is gravy.

As I am writing about the state of American gangsta rap from my living room in Rotterdam- Holland, Tropa Elite is playing on the telly. A movie about corrupt cops in Brazil who are at the heart of a lot of violence in the city of Rio.

The world has gotten smaller for me and it has gotten smaller for those who want to get their story out. A kid in Brooklyn can start a blog or post vids on youtube to tell how his life is being affected by the stuff around him. An unknown rapper in Atlanta can spit crazy lyrics and become a hit on the web.

“I'll tell you half the story, the rest you fill it in. Long as the villian win..”
Jay-Z Reasonable Doubt

But what they can’t do is create the context needed to understand the bigger picture. For that you need to live in more that one world. You need to be street, corporate, white, black, suburb, downtown, Rio and Compton. You need a bit of “gangsta”.

The above lyric is from Jay-Z on the track “dead presidents II” and it’s exactly half the solution. From hinting at stuff that is happening, rappers need to go to connecting dots and filling in the blank space, they need to shine light on the shadows.


Follow the money

Now why should they do all this you ask? Hip-hop is a young mans game and the kids wanna have fun. Well because there is money in it. Huge money.

Hip Hop is over 20 years old. Its listeners have grown up with it. The demographics are there to capitalize on. Yet there is no one talking to the 30+ about stuff they want/need now in the manner that they have grown accustomed to.

Sure we can all appreciate the brilliance of the “ Whisper Song” and like the shock rap or Mr. Mather’s.

But the more we learn the more questions we have. How do drugs get in the ghettos, how can an AK-47 from Russian factories end up on the streets of Compton? What’s the connection between the Mexican drug lords, Salvadorian left wing radicals and the brutal killing of a latino female in Maryland? Why is no one tackling the tales of drug use by US soldiers in Iraq, or the fact that gangs send their people to the army, so that they learn the use of weapons?

The need to understand the world around is the greatest market in the 21 century. More than that, people are willing to invest time and money in order to make sense of the world around them. If cash is king, then context is the new cash. I repeat, Context is cash.

And it is at this need-point that the current crop of gangsta rappers has an advantage over their younger challengers. The up and comers can talk about their short life or the good life. The older crew can talk about life.

So not only are they relevant, they have a shot at extending their careers for another 5-10 years. Springsteen wrote Born to Run about his own little world, he wrote the Rising, about the world at large. Both sold millions.

Ice Cube is a great example. His record “laugh now” has sold over 400.000 copies. He distributed it independently. With the average retail price of $ 10,- that amounts to gross turnover of $ 4000.000,-. Seeing as it was recorded in his own studio for less that $ 100.000,- and it sold without a major push by record companies, that a very healthy gross margin. And let’s face it, gross margin is what keeps us in business. It would be very interesting to see the breakdown of the buyers by age, but I’ll give you 5:1 it’s mostly 30 years and over.

Of course the record labels have to take a hard look at themselves as well. They need to cultivate talent differently. For all it’s fault’s, and there are many, the advertising world and it’s agencies take care of their creative. They make sure that the stimuli is there, that a understanding of the broader culture is there. That a creative filters this in his or her own way is their thing. The input is there. (P.S. if an ad agency or research company is looking for a new market, check out the music industry…and let me know when it pays of)

Why would you sign a major talent and then not help develop him to his full potential over time? That’s just bad business.


Final thoughts
NWA sold over 9 million of their album “straight out of Compton” without major airplay by bringing the hood to the world. You know what they called their brand of rap: Reality Rap.
So we are back a square one, but with a shot of reliving success all over again.

The gangsta has the ability to hook us in with his tales of power and crime, but he is also able to school us on more once he has us. We need stop talking about us, and start showing how our lives are connected to you and the world. The means to communicate are there, the stories are there, and the audience is there.

But we do need to change how labels groom their talents past a certain age, we need to create corporate awareness about the demographic changes in hip hop buying audiences and start catering to them. And we need to tell our creative that they don’t need to chase to 15 year old to make money.

Now let’s make some money!

some thoughts on strategy and agencies

The agencies that will survive/thrive in the (near) future will be structured as the BDA’s (big dumb agencies) of today. They will be international conglomerates that do full service work and help the client grow successfully into profitable companies. Jusqu'ici tout va bien.

Ideology and recruitment
The main difference will be the following. The agencies will limit themselves to the clients they will assist. Some get it, some don’t. Those who do will get help. What that it is, we all know. It is not just bottom line, not just the lowest common denominator, not just satisfying the boss above you, not being non involved with the business, because you have no vested interest in the success or failure.

It’s a state of mind, a inner manifesto, based on part naïveté, part reckless ambition, part idealism, part stubborn feeling that there is a better way of doing things (this a personal view of the world, I admit, but go look at the people/things you admire and you will see these elements surface).

The problem with the agency of tomorrow is, the same as the discussion about the role of advertising in general in the future. It’s always from the angle of service. Submissively catering to the needs of the client. That has to change or everything else is just dryfucking.

Agencies need to choose clients, better yet not choose clients. It is neither the execution, nor the work nor the strategy; the fight is in alignment of worldviews and the destruction of institutionalizing effects. We want to have successful families with sound values that can grow and evolve, not one night stands.

For better or for worse we will need to demand from our clients that they state a point view publicly that is ours. The talk need to be about fundamental, not instrumental reasons for doing stuff/going about stuff. Middle or wing is detail work. But we have to demand a show of colour. It’s not about one word, brand energy or any tactical proprietary tool/system. It’s about ideology.

Matchmaking
Business strategy will be more replaced by the achievement of audacious non business goals across multiple types of business (since you will have blue and red business in tech, food, logistics, non profit) and regions, religions that need to be achieved via business funds (think providing every kid in Tanzania with an education till the age of 16 instead of 12, or new technologies or what not). Multinational clients cram local territory, yet still function as silos when it comes to solving problems within the territory they operate in.

It’s the role of the agency of the future to pick businesses that fit a certain mould, connect them with local consultants from the agency, who will help the business grow and keep focus on the grander ideological goals. To spot business opportunities with other likeminded business to achieve growth.

Forget media neutral, transmedia, matchmaking is our business. Once again, fundamentals, not instuments. Instead of servicing one client we shift to becoming middlemen that connect those who can do more without us than with us interfering. That means design, movie producers, farmers, whoever can help solve the problem and advance the business towards the non-business goals.

to be continued


NH