Mad about Madmen

Finally got see the premier of the new season of Madmen last night via DVR. The show hasn't lost a step, in fact it's picked up it's pace.

Don Draper and associates still drink and smoke too much, ex-wife Betty is Mommy Dearest and women in the office are s-l-o-w-y starting to take their spots in the office hierarchy.

So much for the obvious. What remains fascinating is seeing business being conducted on dial phones, in the office or in phone booths, typewriters and watching Sky King on a black and white television set. In standard def for Pete's sake!

What remains the constant, and link between then and now, is that good marketing works and bad marketing doesn't. Say what you want about the Draper character (ably played by Jon Hamm) he knows advertising. Spoiler alert here, but he was absolutely right in his pitch to the conservative Jantzen swimsuit company. They wanted to market their product, not as a bikini but as a two-piece.

Don's pitch included just that, but with a little sass. No different than what you see in today's famous Old Spice spots. The overly stodgy Jantzen folks didn't like his idea so Don told them to get out. Immediately if not sooner. Good for Don. Never waste time on people who don't get it, even when you're doing exactly what they asked you to do.

His job is to tell people what his clients need to hear, not what they want to hear. It worked then and it works now.

One reason why I'm mad about Madmen.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters LLC
"We start the conversation about you"

Haiti: Help wanted. Make that needed.

I posted some time ago about coverage, or lack thereof, on the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti. News organizations did parachute in for brief coverage marking 6 months since the deadly earthquake that devastated an already devastated country. Then they left. The challenge remains.

My daughter is in Haiti this week on a mission trip. She's working with orphans in the northwestern part of the country. One project involves building a new facility but first a large hill must be leveled to facilitate construction.

So bring in the bulldozers and earth movers right? One problem: No such equipment is available so workers will level the mountain a shovelful at a time.

One shovelful at a time.

Our daughter, in very brief phone calls home, told us about a young child left abandoned at their doorstep. She said they weren't sure of how young the child was, perhaps two. It obviously hadn't been fed much so it's hard to tell until they nurse the child back to health.

Haiti. One shovelful at a time. One child at a time. And they're running out of time.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters LLC
"We get the conversation started about you"

Pipelines, Highways and the Internet

I just spend a great week in Alaska, the second such trip although this one was a "Trains, Planes and Automobiles" journey as opposed to a cruise. Much of the travel was via the Alaska Railroad, with a couple of side trips by plane and car.

One such trip was to Coldfoot and Wiseman, AK. Our plane departed Fairbanks at 7pm for a flight north of the Arctic Circle, landing at Coldfoot. The trip then continued via road to Wiseman, a settlement of 15 people who live a sustainable lifestyle. Along the way you travel along the Alaska Pipeline and the road itself is the one you see on "Ice Road Truckers."

Living in Wiseman is a full time job. Our host's home had both solar (good at least a couple of months a year but it works 24 hours a day in the summer) and electric generators. He traps, grows his own vegetable and hunts for food, usually caribou and moose. Temps range from as high as 80 in the summer to -65 in winter. Living is hard work in this community which traces its roots back to the first settlers that came to Alaska.

There was one connection with the outside world however. Satellite provided Internet. Another example that regardless of lifestyle, communication in this age remains important. Our host enjoys life away from civilization but at the same time doesn't want to lose touch with civilization. Or at least what claims to be civilization these days.

We were also surprised at the cell phone service availability just about every place we went including travel between our base city of Anchorage to Whittier, Fairbanks and Seward. Even Denali. The folks in Alaska remain justifiably proud of their frontier spirit despite the influx of tourists. They also like to be connected. Technology makes it possible. It wasn't that long ago that snail mail moved at a truly a glacier pace, especially "Way up North." Not anymore.

Brian Olson

Conversation Starters LLC

"We start the conversation about you"

A positive place for kids.

We just completed a new marketing video for Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver, as fine an organization locally and nationally as there is. Once you've visited a club you're hooked because you see the fun, educational and athletic opportunities kids have. It's difficult for many potential supporters to visit a club, so this video takes the club to them. They see, that indeed, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver are a positive place for kids.



The PR Blog is taking next week off as we journey from Anchorage to the Arctic Circle via trains, planes (yea!) and automobiles. Look for video when we return.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters LLC
"We get the conversation started about you"

Fred, Madge, Flo and the Old Spice Guy.

Remember Mr. Whipple? Your friendly neighborhood grocer, (remember those?) but he sure got cranky when you squeezed the Charmin. Then there was Madge the manicurist. She pitched Palmolive Dish Detergent. Heck, it was so gentle she soaked her clients' fingernails in the stuff.

Icons of the commercial world a generation ago. You watched, then talked about them and the products at the water cooler. (Remember those?)

Today it's Flo, she works in the Progressive Insurance Store with no walls. Just a white expanse of bargains and occasional flirting with fellow bikers. The spots have been running for quite some time so I guess they're successful.

But I think the star of commercial stars these days is the Old Spice Guy. He's played by Isaiah Mustafa and he's so good that NBC is already working a development deal for a prime time show around him. Looking AND smelling good Isiah! It takes skill to look good riding a horse backwards and bare chested.

The Old Spice Spots are successful however for more than just Isaiah. The concept, the writing and production values are outstanding. It takes a lot of talented people to produce a successful commercial and people who teach advertising will be showcasing these spots for years to come.

A generation later we're now talking about Flo and the Old Spice Guy in blogs, Twitter and Facebook. But regardless of whether it's the water cooler or online, we're talking. About them and their product.

Salesmanship is alive and well.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters, LLC
"We start the conversation about you"

What Merv Block said.

There's a growing brouhaha about GOP candidate for Colorado Governor Scott McInnis and charges of plagiarism. Read more about it in this Denver Post article and this one from 9NEWS. As for the political ramifications of this, that's up to the candidate and ultimately voters. This post is about plagiarism.

Plagiarism is nothing new in politics (Ask Joe Biden) or journalism. It's why someone invented the word plagiarism.

It's so easily avoided if you just follow a great rule taught to me by news writer extraordinaire Merv Block. I got to know, and more importantly learn from Merv during my 8 years on the board of directors of the Radio-Television-Digital News Association. (RTDNA) Merv used to write for Walter Cronkite and any friend of Uncle Walter is a friend of mine!

"Attribution before assertion," Merv taught me. In other words, before you say it or write it, attribute the source. If anything else, it lends credibility to what you do. It's good journalism.

To be fair, it's easy to plagiarize something and simply not realize it. Maybe a thought comes to mind from something you read or saw years ago. You remember a good point and simply include it without attribution because you honestly didn't think it was needed. Mistakes happen. Mistakes can be corrected. Stealing can't.

For the life of me, I've never understood why respected people make wholesale use of other people's work and claim it for their own. Attribution is easy, it's ethical and again simply lends credibility to what you do.

OK, all that said, it turns out McInnis was paid $300,000 for the articles in question by the Hasan Family Foundation. $300,000!

Nice work if you can get it. If you do, remember: "Attribution before assertion."

Thanks for the many good lessons you taught me Merv. Merv also taught me that good writing is re-writing. I'm still working on that part.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters LLC
"We start the conversation about you"

"Y?" Why not?

Ah, branding. The subject of much navel gazing in organizations large and small.

Yesterday an iconic brand, changed its brand. The YMCA (Gee...I hear music) is now simply the "Y."

In business for 160 years, this is the first brand change in 43 years. A group that obviously takes its time when it comes to their brand.

My parents first bought me a membership at the YMCA when I was a kid. I learned to swim there and spent a lot of lunch hours there when I attended school nearby. We all called it the "Y."

Ultimately a brand is only as good as the organization it represents. BP's logo for example is an award winner. Not so much for their deep water drilling and PR. Nice logo, not-so-nice company. At least that's the perception.

The logo don't mean a thing if the company don't have that swing.

By any measure, the "Y" rocks. Always has. The logo change comes long after everyone else made the change themselves.

Sadly, I doubt that we'll stop hearing ""Y-M-C-A" at wedding receptions anytime soon. The Village People's reaction in fact, was, "Y?" Again, I say, why not?

Ok, play it wedding DJ.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters LLC
"We start the conversation about you"