All Good Ad Campaigns Must Come to an End Someday--but When?
For a couple years, the “dancing” California raisins seemed invincible, didn’t they? Those rhythmic raisins ranked among the best-loved ads in the business. The raisins boogied across everything from pencils to pennants to pajama tops.
But today, the raisin rage has all but dried up. Domestic raisin sales are off. And the campaign no longer even ranks among the nation’s Top 10. “We can see the popularity of what they do has been waning,” said Clyde Nef, manager of the Fresno-based California Raisin Advisory Board. “Things like Batman and the Ninja Turtles really jumped in as replacements.”
So what’s a wrinkled raisin to do? That is the question that the California Raisin Advisory Board will ask itself this week. Should it banish the raisins to the advertising graveyard? Or is there a way to salvage the familiar image and use it in a fresh way?
Earlier this month, Isuzu announced that it was putting the slicked-back liar “Joe Isuzu” out to pasture. And one recent poll even suggests that the macho Marlboro Man is slipping noticeably in popularity. Eventually, the creators of all successful ad campaigns must ask themselves this agonizing question: When do you pull the plug on a popular campaign?
“You don’t want to blow it by killing a campaign too soon,” said Peter Stranger, president of the Los Angeles office of Della Femina, McNamee WCRS, the agency that created the “liar” campaign for American Isuzu Motor Co. nearly four years ago. “The only thing worse than that is keeping a campaign for too long.”
In fact, Isuzu officials debated killing the “liar” campaign for nearly three years before making the fateful decision a few weeks ago. “Every year we looked at the campaign with and without Joe,” said Stranger. Now, with plans to introduce three new vehicles in the fall, Isuzu officials decided that, while the Joe Isuzu character is great at getting people to remember the Isuzu name, he isn’t so hot at selling product attributes.
Rick Carpenter, the guy who invented Joe Isuzu, isn’t at the agency anymore. But Carpenter, now senior creative director at the Los Angeles office of DDB Needham Worldwide, agrees that it was probably time for Joe to go.
“It’s kind of sad. A chapter is closing in advertising,” said Carpenter, who got the idea for Isuzu while in a conference with two other agency executives. “But this has to happen to every great campaign.” The real problem the car maker now faces is how to follow an act such as Joe Isuzu. “It’s not easy to come up with a memorable hook that puts you in the Top 10,” Carpenter said.
Sometimes, executives say, when the copywriter or artist who created a popular ad theme leaves an agency, there is no one left to really fight for it. At other times, the popularity alone of a commercial character is enough to keep it alive. For example, Gerald McGee, managing director of the Los Angeles office of Ogilvy & Mather, adapted the Pink Panther character for Owens-Corning Fiberglas more than a decade ago.
At the time, he worked at Ogilvy’s New York office. “I can’t imagine someone coming to my door and telling me the panther has been painted out of the picture,” he said. “I’d feel like a member of my family was taken away.”
About four years ago, American Express dropped its often-quoted campaign “Do you know me?” and replaced it with the current “Membership has its privileges.” That, however, was a very tough decision for the client----and the agency. “There was a feeling, borne out by research, that ‘Do You Know Me?’ wasn’t doing as good a job as it had been,” said Robert Neuman, senior vice president and creative director at Ogilvy & Mather’s New York office, which created both campaigns. “But it was obviously painful leaving it.”
Far less painful was the decision by Jack in the Box in 1980 to literally blow its familiar clown to smithereens in a TV commercial. “Blowing up the clown was a very clear symbol that things were changing at Jack in the Box,” said Howard Cohen, chairman of the Los Angeles ad agency Cohen/Johnson, which continues to create ads for the fast-food chain. “When you’re up against the McDonald’s of the world, you have to do something different.”
Would Marlboro ever give the Marlboro Man the heave-ho? Not any time soon. But a snout-nosed camel with a goofy grin appears to have knocked him off his high horse. Camel’s cartoon-like “Smooth Character” was the best remembered cigarette print ad campaign of 1989, according to a survey of 24,000 people by the New York research firm, Video Storyboard Tests.
In 1983 and 1984, Marlboro ranked as the No. 1 print ad campaign, according to Video Storyboard. By 1985, it had dropped to No. 3, and in 1989, it fell to No. 5. A Philip Morris spokesman, Andrew White, said Marlboro won’t drop the macho cowboy. “Marlboro’s share of the market continues to grow,” White said. “That’s the only consumer survey that counts.”
Ad Agencies Jumping Through NBA Hoops
The National Basketball Assn. is playing hoops with several West Coast agencies.
In recent weeks, NBA officials have had discussions with West Coast agencies about creating TV spots for the league when it switches from CBS to NBC next season.
“The project is being generated by our new network agreement with NBC,” said Judy Shoemaker, vice president of marketing for the NBA. She said the NBA has interviewed agencies nationwide, even though the league is still undecided if it will hire any of them. She declined to name any of the West Coast agencies under consideration. But industry executives say the two Los Angeles agencies, Rubin Postaer & Associates and Chiat/Day/Mojo, as well as San Francisco agency Goodby, Berlin & Silverstein, are all under consideration.
Said one top agency executive, “On an account like this, it’s not the money that matters, it’s the exposure. Imagine what you could do for a client like this.”
Mendelsohn/Zien Tunes in KABC Radio
As radio stations increasingly advertise in other media, their ad business has become more coveted. Last week, Mendelsohn/Zien Advertising won one of the most sought-after radio accounts in Los Angeles: the $2-million KABC TalkRadio AM 790 account.
The win is a big one for the agency, which recently lost the $5-million Acura Advertising Assn. of Southern California business. Although Western International Media will continue to buy media time for the station, Mendelsohn/Zien will create ads and help devise a marketing strategy.
“We hope to bring a more consistent and concentrated marketing program to the station,” said Richard Zien, president of the agency. The Shalek Agency formerly created ads for KABC.
Meanwhile, KABC executives hope the advertising helps to boost ratings. “L.A. is probably the most competitive radio market in the country,” said George Green, president and general manager of KABC. “Advertising can make a significant difference.”
Bonos in This ‘Bo Knows’ Spot?
Bo knows Bo. That, at least, is the theme of the next Nike TV commercial starring the sports superstar. It will air next month during the Wimbledon tennis tournament.
In the commercial, Jackson--who plays a number of roles--keeps running into athletes who look like him. In fact, they are him. Among those he comes across are a surfboard-toting Bo, who greets him with, “Hey, dude.” Then, there’s the croquet-playing Bo who greets him with a distinctly British accent.
But perhaps the most unexpected appearance in the spot is by Sonny Bono, the former singer and mayor of Palm Springs. When Bo asks Bono what he’s doing in the commercial, Bono replies, “I thought this was another ‘Bo Knows’ (Bonos) commercial.”
Experts to Debate Advertising Morality
How much advertising is hogwash? The answer depends on whom you ask. Next week, the advertising industry’s chief spokesman will debate “Morality in Advertising” with the person some say could be the industry’s most vociferous critic.
At the Beverly Hilton Hotel, at noon on June 27, the Advertising Club of Los Angeles will sponsor a debate between John O’Toole, president of the American Assn. of Advertising Agencies, and Bruce Silverglade, legal affairs director of the Washington-based lobby, Center for Science in the Public Interest. The debate, which will be broadcast on KABC TalkRadio, will also be moderated by on-air personality Michael Jackson.
