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The Worst Advertising Climate Ever

Making ads pay when everybody is riled up

Vol. 6, Issue No. 17 | September 7, 2010 By Denny Hatch
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IN THE NEWS

Gingrich: Islamic Center Same as ‘Nazis’ Erecting ‘Sign Next to the Holocaust Museum’
Nazis don’t have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor. There’s no reason for us to accept a Mosque next to the World Trade Center.
—Newt Gingrich on “Fox & Friends”
Chatterbox.com, Aug. 16, 2010

President Obama's words at a White House Ramadan gathering Aug. 13, 2010 regarding a mosque being opened near the Ground Zero 9/11 site:

As a citizen, and as President, I believe that Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances. This is America. And our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the Founders must endure.

In terms of the Constitution, the message was spot-on and not debatable. Many on the Left, Right and Center agreed with him.

Shortly thereafter Newt Gingrich committed what Mike Barnicle labeled “political pyromania” (see “IN THE NEWS” at right) and dropped an “N” bomb by equating Muslims to Nazis—pouring gasoline on what might have remained a brush fire.

The following day, President Obama caved. "I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making the decision to put a mosque there,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. What was intended as nuance was pounced on by the media as a John Kerry flip-flop; where he was for the mosque before, now he was against it.

Suddenly the Ground Zero mosque took over the news.

Direct marketers who fail to take current news into consideration will be sunk by it,” wrote Martin Gross, author of “The Direct Marketer’s Idea Book.”

A Horrific Lunch
On Nov. 22, 1963, Consumer Report’s circulation director Paul Goldberg had just settled in for lunch at the Pierre Hotel’s famous Café Pierre with two fellow circulation directors and had taken the first sip of his first Gordon’s gin martini. The maître d’ Gus came over and said quietly, “I’m very sorry to tell you that the president of the United States has just been assassinated.

Takeaways to Consider

  • "Direct marketers who fail to take current news into consideration will be sunk by it." —Martin Gross, author, "The Direct Marketer's Idea Book"
  • Can you turn on a dime, cash in on current news and leave the competition eating your dust?
  • Offer an irresistible premium. Make people feel good. Generate some cash.
  • No offer, no reason to respond. No response, no measurement of ROI.
  • "Free is a magic word." —Dick Benson, legendary direct marketing guru
  • Beware of “free” in e-mails. It triggers spam filters.
  • "A premium is a bribe to say yes now." —Dick Benson
  • "Dollar for dollar, premiums are better incentives than cash discounts." —Dick Benson
  • "Two premiums are frequently better than one." —Dick Benson
  • If a huge news story suddenly breaks just as a major campaign hits the marketplace, chalk it up to bad luck. Remember British author Aldous Huxley, whose obituary ran the day after President Kennedy was shot and nobody noticed.

Websites Related to Today's Edition

Obama Strongly Backs Islam Center Near 9/11 Site

Gingrich: Islamic Center Same as 'Nazis' Erecting 'Sign Next to the Holocaust Museum'

President Obama flip-flops on 9/11 mosque

Estée Lauder revamps department store kiosk approaches

 

Companies Mentioned:
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COMMENTS

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Most Recent Comments:
JP - Posted on September 09, 2010
Your column also illustrates the way rightwingers have mastered the manipulation of language and the framing of debates. Everyone's talking about a "mosque at Ground Zero." There is no mosque (it's a community center) and it's not on Ground Zero, it's several blocks away from one corner of the large World Trade Center complex, past strip clubs, bars and a betting parlor -- hardly sacred ground.

JP
Rob - Posted on September 08, 2010
The Millard Fuller story explains why he was a whiz at making money, but I'm trying to figure out how to integrate news hooks with other products or charities.
John Caldwell - Posted on September 07, 2010
It's an email urban legend that using the word "free" in emails is a "spam trigger".
Craig Valine - Posted on September 07, 2010
Denny,

Another GREAT article. You made many great points.

I believe we either have to shock the heck out of our prospects to interrupt their media hypnosis, or we have to tie a compelling message into what's going on in their minds (eg. tying into current news, etc. while still 'shocking' them).

I think no marketer these days can live without the words 'irresistible' or 'compelling'. Everything else is just needless boring noise to a customer.

Thanks Denny! Love to read these every week.

Craig Valine, Local Director
Glazer-Kennedy Insider's Circle
Los Angeles Area Local Chapter
Zane Lumelsky - Posted on September 07, 2010
In response to Edward Zuckerman's comment on local zoning laws blocking construction of churches, this is not the case in Massachusetts. The "Dover Amendment" was added to the state constitution in the 1950s as a result of a local zoning ordinance attempting to block the building of a church. This law exempts churches from local zoning. Over the years other categories (including schools, healthcare institutions) were added to the "Dover Amendment" allowing these types of uses in any location regardless of local zoning. All this was based on the US First Amendment. Although I'm only knowledgeable about the Massachusetts law, my guess is that the same is true in most other states.
Dev. Kinney - Posted on September 07, 2010
It is entirely logical for President Obama to defend the right of Muslims to build their mosque and to question the wisdom of building it in such a controversial location. As would anyone on, say, building a cathedral in a red light district. And please don't interpret this as me saying downtown Manhattan is a red light district.
David Cowen - Posted on September 07, 2010
Denny: Harold Mertz (the founder of Publishers Clearing House) used to say about how direct mail pulls in relation to the economy and current events ... When the economy stinks and the world looks like it will blow up, people buy lots of magazine subscriptions because it's cheap entertainment. When times are good, people buy lots of magazine subscriptions because it's cheap entertainment. About the TarBites - I mean Starbucks - ad. This is just the latest example of their wasting ad dollars patting themselves on the back. It's amazing that somebody as smart as Howard Schultz doesn't realize this. He must not be paying attention.
Mat Weller - Posted on September 07, 2010
It would also have helped if someone had the gonads to just say, "oh, and by the way, they're not even planning to build a mosque there. Learn to read a building permit application." It's an imaginary issue, swift-boat style. The end.
Peter Hochstein - Posted on September 07, 2010
There's also a hidden message in the anecdote you led off with: The only reliable guide to keeping your story straight it to tell it straight every time.

Had President Obama stuck to his story, in response to a question relating to Newt Gingrich's conjuring up Nazis to make us fear a mosque in lower Manhattan, the President would have gained public admiration and shut Gingrich up. Especially if he stated his case even more strongly.

For example, the President might have said, "I'll say just what I said before. This is America. We have freedom of religion in this country. It's guaranteed by the Second Amendment. I don't know what country Mr. Gingrich thinks he's from, or what political party he thinks he's from. But I'd remind him that the Nazis were the first to attack freedom of religion in their own country. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about Mr. Gingrich's sympathies."

But instead, President Obama waffled, opening the floodgates for what we're enduring now.

The same lesson applies to advertising. Remember "New Coke?" Its introduction was the first clue I had that anything was wrong with the old Coke. Which then changed its story again and became Traditional Coke.

Keep your story straight and the world will flock to you. Waffle and you'll be nothing but a waffle maker.

Edward Zuckerman - Posted on September 07, 2010
Denny,
The First Amendment guarantees the right to worship as one pleases, but it does not guarantee the right to worship WHERE one pleases. Local zoning laws have blocked construction of churches and, one presupposes, mosques for decades. The First Amendment is on the side of the dissenters as much as it is on the side of the Muslims. It makes for a good political debate, and Obama was right to get into it. Too bad he lost his nerve.
Click here to view archived comments...
Archived Comments:
JP - Posted on September 09, 2010
Your column also illustrates the way rightwingers have mastered the manipulation of language and the framing of debates. Everyone's talking about a "mosque at Ground Zero." There is no mosque (it's a community center) and it's not on Ground Zero, it's several blocks away from one corner of the large World Trade Center complex, past strip clubs, bars and a betting parlor -- hardly sacred ground.

JP
Rob - Posted on September 08, 2010
The Millard Fuller story explains why he was a whiz at making money, but I'm trying to figure out how to integrate news hooks with other products or charities.
John Caldwell - Posted on September 07, 2010
It's an email urban legend that using the word "free" in emails is a "spam trigger".
Craig Valine - Posted on September 07, 2010
Denny,

Another GREAT article. You made many great points.

I believe we either have to shock the heck out of our prospects to interrupt their media hypnosis, or we have to tie a compelling message into what's going on in their minds (eg. tying into current news, etc. while still 'shocking' them).

I think no marketer these days can live without the words 'irresistible' or 'compelling'. Everything else is just needless boring noise to a customer.

Thanks Denny! Love to read these every week.

Craig Valine, Local Director
Glazer-Kennedy Insider's Circle
Los Angeles Area Local Chapter
Zane Lumelsky - Posted on September 07, 2010
In response to Edward Zuckerman's comment on local zoning laws blocking construction of churches, this is not the case in Massachusetts. The "Dover Amendment" was added to the state constitution in the 1950s as a result of a local zoning ordinance attempting to block the building of a church. This law exempts churches from local zoning. Over the years other categories (including schools, healthcare institutions) were added to the "Dover Amendment" allowing these types of uses in any location regardless of local zoning. All this was based on the US First Amendment. Although I'm only knowledgeable about the Massachusetts law, my guess is that the same is true in most other states.
Dev. Kinney - Posted on September 07, 2010
It is entirely logical for President Obama to defend the right of Muslims to build their mosque and to question the wisdom of building it in such a controversial location. As would anyone on, say, building a cathedral in a red light district. And please don't interpret this as me saying downtown Manhattan is a red light district.
David Cowen - Posted on September 07, 2010
Denny: Harold Mertz (the founder of Publishers Clearing House) used to say about how direct mail pulls in relation to the economy and current events ... When the economy stinks and the world looks like it will blow up, people buy lots of magazine subscriptions because it's cheap entertainment. When times are good, people buy lots of magazine subscriptions because it's cheap entertainment. About the TarBites - I mean Starbucks - ad. This is just the latest example of their wasting ad dollars patting themselves on the back. It's amazing that somebody as smart as Howard Schultz doesn't realize this. He must not be paying attention.
Mat Weller - Posted on September 07, 2010
It would also have helped if someone had the gonads to just say, "oh, and by the way, they're not even planning to build a mosque there. Learn to read a building permit application." It's an imaginary issue, swift-boat style. The end.
Peter Hochstein - Posted on September 07, 2010
There's also a hidden message in the anecdote you led off with: The only reliable guide to keeping your story straight it to tell it straight every time.

Had President Obama stuck to his story, in response to a question relating to Newt Gingrich's conjuring up Nazis to make us fear a mosque in lower Manhattan, the President would have gained public admiration and shut Gingrich up. Especially if he stated his case even more strongly.

For example, the President might have said, "I'll say just what I said before. This is America. We have freedom of religion in this country. It's guaranteed by the Second Amendment. I don't know what country Mr. Gingrich thinks he's from, or what political party he thinks he's from. But I'd remind him that the Nazis were the first to attack freedom of religion in their own country. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about Mr. Gingrich's sympathies."

But instead, President Obama waffled, opening the floodgates for what we're enduring now.

The same lesson applies to advertising. Remember "New Coke?" Its introduction was the first clue I had that anything was wrong with the old Coke. Which then changed its story again and became Traditional Coke.

Keep your story straight and the world will flock to you. Waffle and you'll be nothing but a waffle maker.

Edward Zuckerman - Posted on September 07, 2010
Denny,
The First Amendment guarantees the right to worship as one pleases, but it does not guarantee the right to worship WHERE one pleases. Local zoning laws have blocked construction of churches and, one presupposes, mosques for decades. The First Amendment is on the side of the dissenters as much as it is on the side of the Muslims. It makes for a good political debate, and Obama was right to get into it. Too bad he lost his nerve.