Getting out of tricky situations isn't easy. But along the way, I get to hang out with princesses (they never wear their crowns), camel jockeys (literally!) and famous (well at least quasi-famous) people...all for the love of media and travel.
First, the sad part: Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other souls perished in a helicopter crash yesterday. Kobe was only 41. I only met him twice—at an Academy Awards symposium and then backstage in the winners room when he subsequently won an Oscar for his work on Dear Basketball—and only followed his career from afar, safely in the confines of my personal man cave, so I won't invent false grief from my end when the affected family, friends and former teammates deserve this space. My condolences go out to everyone who loved him and knew him. At the same time, I am sad, and he's a guy who meant an excessive amount to me during a time when sports shouldn’t have meant so much.
Maybe I wasn't part of his life, but he was a huge part of mine. He gave joy to me in a time where joy was rationed to me. So it’s a dreadful day for Lakers fans, as well as fans of basketball in general. I cannot recall an athlete dying who crossed so many borders of industry and life, was so dear so much to so many people in so many different worlds, or was idolized so passionately by the youth looking for a clear path to their dream.
Kobe passed away before the Basketball Hall of Fame found a place for him. He's going to make it this year, as scheduled (this summer's finalists have already been announced and he will be part of the arguably the best incoming class ever). Now, they'll have the ceremony without him in Springfield, Mass., and everyone will say, "It's a proud day, but it's also a bittersweet day because he wasn't here to see it," and then they'll put up his plaque and we'll go on with our sadness.
Now, the angry part, the majority of fans who are rightfully sad and distressed love him for his basketball life, still holding near and dear his incredible play on the court. Indisputably, Kobe was as top 10 player of all time, and 18 time all star, and the greatest defensive guard of his era, maybe of any era: nine first team All-Defensive appearances and on the second team). That doesn't even begin to describe how destructive he played on that end. He was equally devastating on the offensive end. I am angry because someone I was awe in on the court was making real impact off the court. My access the Academy Awards allowed me to see his work and spend time in his presence. Hear his philosophies in candid situations, away from the cameras. He was real at that symposium. He wasn’t someone trying to grab the spotlight from Glen Keane as they spoke about his “love letter to basketball.” He spoke of the process and was thankful to his teammate who made his concept into something real. Detractors will tell you he won because of name recognition but truly this film was easily the best short film nominated that year. His relentless work ethic that drove his 20 years in the NBA also propelled drive his transformation into a business mogul, author, mentor, and advocate of women’s sports. I saw this through the prism of my media work. I am better off for the experiences. It seems impossible to find anyone in this sphere of human who did so much for so many.
The thankful part lays in his Mamba Mentality. He validated my intense love for the process of gaining success through hard work. He nicknamed himself the Mamba and it stuck and authored “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” a book where his revealed his famously detailed approach and the steps he took to prepare mentally and physically to not just succeed at the game, but to excel. We learned how he studied an opponent, how he channeled his passion for the game, and how he played through injuries. In the book he described Mamba Mentality: “To be on a constant quest to try to be the best version of yourself. That’s what the mentality is. It’s not a finite thing. It’s a constant quest to try to be better today than you were yesterday and better tomorrow than you were the day before.”
I’ve been preaching this mentality in my process since I was 20 working in New York City. Be a grinder I tell my people. It’s the clear path to success. Some people can’t handle this intensity. I was far more intensive as a young person. I’ve mellowed as I hit my fifties. I don’t throw hockey pucks through glass doors, and micromanage every detail of my staff’s daily workload. But I’ve never relented on the need for following the process. Kobe was that way too. You were either on board and all in, or he didn’t want to play with you. Every player who wanted to take the easier route and cut corners by ignoring the process received my mocking smile. I did the same when others on my three decades of marketing/advertising teams got the same treatment.
Today, I am searching to make sense of all of this tragedy. I doubt I ever will. Maybe I should be thankful for the many versions of Kobe I experienced in 24 years of being near his rarefied air.
Last week marked the another death from one of my childhood legends, Rocky Johnson. He was one of the first black wrestling champions (in fact, the first tag team champion) and brought class to sport that is seldom know for that characteristic.
RIP Rocky Johnson.
Saturday mornings were never the same without you.
His death reminded me of the ridicule I received at school and in my neighborhood towards my affection of professional wrestling. "Fake!" the haters would bellow at me, very much like the wrestler would in their interstitial interviews between matches. "You're wasting your time watching that stuff. Read some Shakespeare", my English teachers would lecture. Other would caution, "You'll never get a date if girls find out you watch that junk."
Little did they know that this was all part of my master plan of life education that taught valuable strategies about advertising much in the same way the book "The 48 Laws of Power" teaches you how to navigate the politics of work. Even at 12 years old, I theorized that you could learn a great deal from professional wrestling. I always believed that using the principles of being a great wrestling draw could make you successful in your career. Little did I know how perfectly these principles would apply to advertising. What are these principles you ask? Here they are—learn them, embrace them, love them:
Wrestling is outrageous and entertaining. Advertising needs be, too.
Great production values will only get you so far.
Be the black hat.
Be a jobber occasionally.
Find your reality.
Have you ever really watched wrestling and tossed away all the testosterone oozing from every inch of the telecast? They are a lesson on how to suck viewers in and hold them breathless, an hour at a time. They are the sports version of soap operas, inching along the storylines and filling up arenas and pay-per-view purchases.
Well, BROTHER (!), if you haven’t watched a professional wrestling telecast, you're not prepping for your big moment in the advertising world. Imagine a comic book mixed with Roman gladiators, with incredibly gifted, larger-than-life athletes who have the gift of gab, saying whatever they want (as long as it follows the script) and make grand entrances to their offices.
So where’s the advertising sagacity in all of this? Let’s go back to the six principles…
Wrestling is outrageous and entertaining. Advertising needs be, too.
The action is real, but the outcome is fake. Deal with it. When you go to ballet, you go for the story and the athleticism displayed on stage. In short, you are there for the content. Professional wrestling is built the content. The personalities. The performance. It suspends our skepticism. It allows us to escape and appreciate the outlandish showmanship.
Advertising, like wrestling, one part inauthentic, two parts showmanship, three parts branding, and two parts concept and follow-through. We defend the work and that’s why clients trust us with their brand. The creative is the showmanship that grabs attention and makes consumers respond to the campaign. If you’re in the industry you need to embrace that we need to be the best part of our clients' day. Emancipate your creative and have some fun with it all. Do your research, down some coffee, and then get a little funky. I can’t underscore enough to have a little bit of fun. Your craft and your finished product will be better for it.
Great production values will only get you so far.
Always Be Closing.
In wrestling, the performers are either pushing for the big match via their interviews or looking for a three count in the ring. In advertising you have to have a similar mentality. Get those approvals. Close new business. Don’t let roadblocks get in the way of performance. Years ago, I wrote a column about closing and some of the keys to closing. Read it. Embrace the key points.
Be the Black Hat.
The black hats are the bad guys who use everything at their disposal to achieve their goals. They steal. They lie. They cheat. Honestly, the black hats are the guys they get the boos, but also the coolest cats in the room. The bend the rules and puff their chests out while doing it. You would do well to recommend that your brands channel their black hats. Get upset. Raise a ruckus. If you tell the truth, will it hurt? Hell yes it will. That’s good. The truth will set you free. The best creative involves that legendary work tension that leaves everything on edge. Stir it up and you’ll see how everyone melts into place. (Just don’t be unethical. That will get you fired.)
Take the Loss.
There’s a certain thing that happens in wrestling—being a jobber. When you do a job, it means you take the L. You job out. Sometimes you have to be the punching bag and take the heat. It's part and parcel to being in the industry. You can’t go undefeated. I have a thing called the quarterly battle system where I only go to the mats on one project per quarter. Other than that, nothing is that important. Remember, if you lose splendidly, you look good even in defeat. All of us that have been in the industry for longer than a cup of coffee take the L. Do it, occasionally.
Find Your Sweet Spot.
The best wrestlers have a signature finishing move. The crowd waits anxiously for them to bring the move out and finish the match. They know their sweet spot. When the time is right they finish, and they do it well. You should have your unique proposition and you should embrace it. We are all good at something. Find that sweet spot and make a career out of what you’re good at. Extend this thinking to your brands and empower them to make that truth their voice. Then, sell it every which way you can. Success never lives in the middle ground. You need to take on some dangers if you plan on capturing the championship. Go for it.
Hopefully now you can see how professional wrestling and advertising are more closely aligned than you ever thought.
So with that I want to say, thank you Rocky Johnson.
To kickoff 2020, I'm adding intriguing visuals from my trip around the world, my 43 Postcards Project from my lifetime of travels. So far, my quest has taken me to places familiar and others remote, in 43 countries and counting, from the deep Pacific to the deserts of the Middle East to the snow-crusted landscapes of the Arctic Circle. Here, I'll share a handful or two of snapshots from each country I visit, as I saw them. Enjoy the views.
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Okay, so where am I?
My quest to build content for my Kontinental Hockey League book intensifies, this time in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Maybe you don't know Saint Petersburg. Maybe you think it's a city in Florida. Maybe you don't care. I do because the once capital city of Russia rapidly became one of my favorite cities on the world. I'll devote a full column this month to the wonders it holds but in the meantime, a fast overview of its history. The city is not named for Tsar Peter the Great, aka Peter the I, but Saint Peter, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. Still, Peter the Tsar, who ruled Russia from 1682 until his death in 1725, is the city’s true father. Blessed with being nearly seven feet tall and also being very good at winning wars, Russia became a European powerhouse under his reign. After his victory against the Swedish Empire in the Great Northern War opened up the Baltic region, he founded Saint Petersburg in 1703 as a new, modern, westward-looking capital of the Russian Empire, a frontier town designed in the image of European cities, to integrate Russia into Europe. It is also the home city of President Vladimir Putin, who worked first for the Leningrad branch of the KGB and later in the mayor’s office, but Peter will always be number one here.
Before I get to the meat of this column (the visuals), I want to give a special hats off to Firebird Tours as they delivered opportunity after opportunity to get up close with Saint Petersburg and the people of Russia. Seems to me that I can no more book a trip without them as I can travel without my trusty camera to capture life, personalities, and cityscapes we seldom knew existed. Take a peek at my 16 favorites from a handful of days in the city that was the imperial capital for two centuries.
I just got back from a whirlwind tour of Finland (Kemi, Lapland, Helsinki) and Russia (Saint Petersburg, Moscow) and it's time to get caught up. As you can see from the graphic, the call for ANDY Awards entries has been announced. As you know I am an award junkie so I am moving to get my entires into place to win this elusive award. I am sure there are plenty of you who have no idea what this award is, so here's there elevator speech, "for 55 years the International ANDY awards have been known as the most sought-after awards for creative excellence in advertising." Heady stuff for sure and prestigious in my industry. I want one and my three previous attempts have bore no fruit. I'm taking it seriously because the single entry cost is $1,500!
The quest for an ANDY made me assess my work against some of my contemporaries from the past year. You know what I found? I found a whole lot of campaigns that should have never been greenlit. They missed their mark or worse. You know I don't have a Hall of Shame because I'm negative. I do it because the worse the ad, the greater the inspiration to be better; to do better. Also, some of the advertising SVPs need to call the Media Guy before they spend millions on a media buy to showcase bad work This is one of my independent new business pushes. I don't charge a lot for a two-day consultation and the return on investment for the companies that do call is immense.
In 2016, I introduced my "You Should Have Called the Media Guy" columns where I implore tone-deaf ad men and women who don't bother to focus group their advertising and I censure then why a call to me, the Media Guy, can save them some serious advertising budgets in bad publicity if they had only let me review their work first. The columns have proved to be reader favorites (you can catch up on past columns here):
I am sure you sit at home and wonder openly and loudly how ads such as these could ever wind up on television or in your online feeds. Some are so poorly thought out you have to say "how did this load of poop make it past their high-paid creatives. So despite my offer for inexpensive, yet sage consulting, there were companies and ad department that decided, "hey we got this!" and didn't call the Media Guy. The ran with their great ideas and I'm here today to bash them a little bit by inducting them into my Media Guy Hall of Shame.
Before I do though, I want to run my annual PSA for those fools making ten times more than me in their lofty corner glass offices:
"Hello Chief Marketing Officers: you can't see the forest among the trees. Call me. A small consulting check made out to me could save embarrassment and, also, potentially, your jobs. Swallow your pride and just do it!"
5. Peloton's "The Gift That Gives Back"
Peloton decided to shame a thin woman's journey to get, well, more thin and the world laughed at them. Others wagged their finger at them, especially the husband who obviously was a real winner as he made his wife check in daily with selfies and what not. In short, the campaign follows her through a yearlong selfie expedition as her dictatorish partner passive aggressively suggested that she needed more exercise.
4. Kia's 'The Niro Electrified Family"
Kia started off with a smart actor placement on the form of Robert DeNrio in this heavy power of puns spot aimed at promoting its electric e-Niro range. I'm sure that concept sounded good in the pitch session but the end product ended up like the agency chose to wing it without a script after into securing an Oscar winner. Sigh.
3. Snapchat's "Would You Rather"
You have to be kidding me that this would happen in the current #MeToo climate. In 2009, Chris Brown decided to use Rihanna as a punching bag on the way to the Grammys. SnapChat decided they should make light of domestic abuse it, asking users to reveal whether they’d prefer to slap Rihanna or punch Chris Brown. Snapchat responded saying the ad was the product of a third-party oversight intended to promote the company’s latest game, “Would You Rather.” I mean, really? No wonder SnapChat has fallen off the Earth.
2. Miele's "International Women’s Day"
How do you celebrate modern women on International Women’s Day? By reinforcing the 1950s housewife stereotype. The appliances manufacturer probably thought it was cute to share an image of four white women excited over a washer and dryer, but completely missed the mark. Miele deleted the Facebook post a few hours later. Seriously Miele, you shouldn't rely on old-fashioned stereotypes for your marketing. Know your target audience. Understand what drives them and use this information to inform your social media for business campaigns. It's basic Marketing 101. One call to me and I would have told you that instead of you showing around the creative department and being pandered with a bunch of "great job", "looks incredible", and "you killed this!" comments I am sure you heard prior to giving the thumbs up to roll this out.
1. Oreo's “First Christmas”
So it’s Christmas Eve and even though every kid's parents leave milk and cookies by the fireplace, Santa is a glutton and needs more. [You know, I covered mean Santa before. He's not so easy to work for...] At this point, he pulls over to a gas station and sends his first-day-on-the-job elf intern inside for some Oreos. (Yeah, yeah, bad day to start, but go with it, will ya?) Newbie elf grabs a Big Gulp of orange soda and several packages of Oreos (it's clear he has no idea what glutton Santa is all about). Thankfully, dude at the cash wrap knows the deal and turns on the elf to his milk vault behind the counter which gains him a golden ticket to the Infamous Santa Xmas Rager. Cute idea, no? Exactly, NO! This entire spot smells of creepiness. Dimly lit with newbie elf is wearing way too much makeup. The guy behind the counter with the milk stash twists off the top of the Oreo and demonstrates the proper method to lick off the creme. Good gawd, too much information! All we need is the FBI to show up on December 26th in the epilogue to figure out what became of newbie elf who disappeared for an Oreo pit stop.
To kickoff 2020, I'm adding intriguing visuals from my trip around the world, my 43 Postcards Project from my lifetime of travels. So far, my quest has taken me to places familiar and others remote, in 43 countries and counting, from the deep Pacific to the deserts of the Middle East to the snow-crusted landscapes of the Arctic Circle. Here, I'll share a handful or two of snapshots from each country I visit, as I saw them. Enjoy the views.
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Okay, so where am I?
It's the start of the year and with my Kontinental Hockey League book deal in place I set onto to Moscow to interview as many ex-players, executives, and broadcasters as possible. I only had a few days before my itinerary called for an overnight train trip to Saint Petersburg, so time was of the essence.
Moscow wasn't the capital of Russia. When it was first mentioned in historical records in approximately 1140, it was simply a small town of little importance. Muscovites today consider Prince Yury Dolgoruky their city’s founding father, but it was only recorded that he dined with friends in the town of “Moskov,” named after the local Moscow River. It remains unclear exactly when this town was established, but at the time of Dolgoruky it was governed by a noble called Kuchka, who fell out with the prince over taxes and was sentenced to death.
A small fortress was built on Borovitsky Hill by Dolgoruky’s son, Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky; it was the first in a long succession of structures that eventually became the Moscow Kremlin. Moscow remained a small town while the nearby city of Vladimir rose in prominence and overtook Kiev, the old capital, in importance. Moscow’s luck would change only later.
I grew up during the Cold War: a time of border standoffs, spy-versus-spy intrigues and the bristling tensions of the Berlin Wall. Today Moscow's glittering malls and stylish cafes might seem light years away from the gray concrete and paranoia of that era -- a period that stretched from the end of World War II in 1945 to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 -- but its remnants are everywhere. From bunker complexes to rusting MiG fighter jets to the vestiges of long-defunct secret weapons programs, Moscow is a living museum of the epoch that shaped the 20th century.
During this trip I stayed close to Red Square in the plush Ararat Park Hyatt conducting my interviews from their luxurious 10th floor lounge with the best panoramic views in Moscow. Taking a quick trip with me around town in these 20 visuals captured in my few free minutes in the city.
To kickoff 2020, I'm adding intriguing visuals from my trip around the world, my 43 Postcards Project from my lifetime of travels. So far, my quest has taken me to places familiar and others remote, in 43 countries and counting, from the deep Pacific to the deserts of the Middle East to the snow-crusted landscapes of the Arctic Circle. Here, I'll share a handful or two of snapshots from each country I visit, as I saw them. Enjoy the views.
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Okay, so where am I?
I'm in Finland. Part vacation, part business trip. I am here to see the sights and to work on my Kontinental Hockey League book. Interviewing former players, executives, and broadcasters is much easier when you have the beauty of Scandinavia as a backdrop.
I breezed through this country in record time it seems and, well, Finland. It’s been a blast. Who knew this little Nordic country of 5.2 million could deliver so many micro-memories through the characters and souls I met in seven short days (and by short, I mean really short with less than five hours of sunlight each winter day). Take a reflective journey with me through a curated gallery of 11 captures that rest in my lens (and now in this blog).
