The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills.  Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site.  Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

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Graeme Newell
602 Communications
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In This Issue
Using Fear to Motivate News Viewing
Oscars 2010 Winners
NYC Viewers Get ABC Back as Oscars Begin
Stay Committed to Investigative Journalism, Westin Says
Facts are Worth Paying For, Williams Says
Obama to Mark 'America's Most Wanted' Anniversary
Palin Pitches Alaska TV Docudrama
Dagnabbit My Dad Should Say?
Stupid Super Bowl Tricks Creep Into Oscars
Back-to-Back Pantsless Ads Confusing, Dockers Claims
Irish Famine Humor not Amusing to Many, Denny's Finds
Twitter Hits 10 Billion Tweets
Bill Maher: Don't Screw With Our Prom!


Quotes

"We are like icebergs in the ocean: one-eighth part consciousness and the rest submerged beneath the surface of articulate apprehension."
- William Alexander Gerhardie

"Some other faculty than the intellect is necessary for the apprehension of reality."
- Henri L. Bergson, French philosopher (1859-1941)

“There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality.”
- Seneca

Using Fear to Motivate News Viewing

Fear. It is the number one emotional sell of television news promos. During rating periods, the pressure to deliver an audience becomes even more acute and "watch or die" promos are showcased in some of the best time slots on the schedule. It is the fallback sell position for most investigative and consumer promos. The station decries a public danger then leaps tall buildings in a single bound to bring the perpetrators to justice. But does fear promotion really work? Does fear motivate viewing?

The cigarette industry has been doing "quit or die" commercials for decades. But recent research shows that aversion selling is not as effective as other less threatening advertising techniques. The study found that threatening messages are often too scary, and the audience just shuts down and blocks out the message altogether. The trick is figuring out when you've gone too far.

 Throat Cancer Ad

Australian Anti-Smoking Ad

I have been unable to find specific studies on TV news audiences and fear, but have been able to deduce some interesting trends by simply looking at how the advertising industry uses this powerful emotion. One thing for sure, this kind of sell now is often the brunt of jokes in the industry. Shows like "The Daily Show" regularly skewer this genre creating big yucks for the audience. Savvy audiences have learned to simply ignore the "watch or die" promos that pervade the airwaves.

 Gravity Kills Ad

If you do a careful analysis of fear in advertising, you'll find that cable and Madison Avenue use fear very differently than local TV news. Their approach is much more strategic. The main purpose of fear is to get your attention. There are few more powerful attention grabbers. This happens because it has been hardwired into our brains since the beginning. When we feel impending danger, we naturally sit up and pay very close attention. When that lion came around on the African savannah, perking up and paying attention meant you might escape being this afternoon's snack. This makes fear a primal shortcut for cutting through the clutter of television advertising.

The real skill in using fear comes AFTER you've gotten the audience's attention. A good dose of fright gets them watching, but you can't stop there. Skilled Madison Avenue practitioners will make a critical mood shift, moving on to other emotions to close the sale. A lot of TV news promos just continue to frighten the daylights out of their customers and never make this critical shift. We put the fear blowtorch to their emotions and burn them to ashes.

 Health Benefits Ad

These type of promos go from zero to terrified in about three seconds and never let up. What is missing is the critical handoff that will provide learning and understanding. Generally, you don't need to use the entire promo to scare people - it is overkill and can shut viewers down. Fear can be used quickly, then you can move on to the next steps.

So what should you do? Take a look at these examples and notice the sophisticated ways they bring about resolution, reassurance, and fun.

-Go for happily ever after.

Use fear to point out the danger, but make the shift to reassurance. Sure, it's dangerous out there, but if you use this product or watch this news report, everything is going to be just fine.

 Office Fire Ad

-Make a clear and obvious shift to a positive tone

Far too many stations spend the whole spot scaring the pants off the viewer, then put an inconsequential one-line resolution at the end.

 Internet Theft Ad

Spend at least half the promo telling your audience that everything will be okay. Watch how they keep the same scary music and ominous tone throughout this promo. They never let up.

 Home Sickness Ad

-Transition the music from scary to soothing. Change the VO from terrifying to tranquil.

 AOL High Speed Internet

-Empower the audience to strike back

Be a vigilante. Give them a scare off the top, then empower them to kick ass and raise hell.

 Color of Fear Ad

-Leave them with a giggle.

Scare them off the top, but then make everything okay by ending with comedy. You can use fear to get their attention, but leave them with a good warm feeling about your product and the ways it can improve life.

 I Love You Virus Ad

-Take the fear to an absurd conclusion

Watch how these spots get your attention with fear, then take the fear so far that they turn it into a joke. They make the scary point but leave you with a fun feeling.

 Poltergeist Furniture

Glad Trash Bag Meteor Shower

-Make it a scary movie kind of fright

Nothing is quite as fun as a good old fashioned horror movie.

 Surprise Ad

That same fear can be harnessed to have a fun scare reminiscent of a childhood matinee.

Lost Promo

Vampire Bats Promo

Remember that fear is a powerful tool if used wisely. Crank up the angst at the top of your commercial, but make sure you transition to a resolving emotion that leaves the audience with more than just a feeling of apprehension.

Graeme Newell is a broadcast and new media marketer who specializes in core emotional drivers.  He guarantees that his teasing seminar will immediately increase your news ratings or his workshop is free.  Find out more here.

Oscars 2010 Winners
Beating back the juggernaut of Avatar and rising to the top of a field of ten Best Picture nominees, the Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker pulled out six Oscar wins at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow, who became the first woman ever to earn that award.  In the acting categories, Sandra Bullock beat out Meryl Streep to win the Best Actress Award for her turn as a fierce Southern mom in The Blind Side; Jeff Bridges earned the Best Actor Award for playing a past-his-prime country singer in Crazy Heart; Mo’Nique won the Best Supporting Actress for playing an abusive mother in Precious; and Christoph Waltz won the Best Supporting Actor Award for his portrayal of a coldblooded yet charming Nazi in Inglourious Basterds. Click for our full list of the winners:
News Briefs


NYC Viewers Get ABC Back as Oscars Begin
The TV signal was switched back on for Cablevision's 3.1 million subscribers in the New York area shortly after tonight's Academy Awards telecast got under way.  Channel 7, the local ABC affiliate, returned at 8:43 pm, 13 minutes into the show.  A Cablevision spokesman said a deal was reached in a dispute over millions of dollars in fees that had led ABC's parent company, the Walt Disney Co., to pull its programming from the cable operator's subscribers at midnight Saturday.  The companies had been bickering about how much Disney was paid by Cablevision for the right to transmit the ABC signal to cable subscribers.  The spokesman declined to disclose the details of the deal.  Disney CEO Bob Iger was seen in the Oscar audience, about a minute after Cablevision announced it had reached a deal to get the telecast on the air.
Newser


Stay Committed to Investigative Journalism, Westin Says
ABC News President David Westin says that news organizations can't invoke the First Amendment unless they have "reporters out in the field doing the work that needs to be done and we have the resources to support them."  And while ABC has announced major cuts and a restructuring of its news operation, he said news organizations needed to be committed to investigative journalism, beat reporting and long-form documentaries.  He got a second on that sentiment from another network news president in attendance.  Westin was speaking to a room full of journalists after receiving the Radio-Television Digital News Foundation's First Amendment Leadership award.  The speech came a week after ABC announced deep staff cuts in a remake of their news operation, and on the eve of a scheduled meeting with staffers in the ABC Washington bureau March 5 to talk about that remake.  "As we gather here tonight, I can see no greater challenge to the First Amendment than the threats that are being faced by so many of our news organizations...threats to their ability to have the wherewithal to employ reporters and support them with the resources that they need."  He said those risks may be the greatest since the First Amendment was adopted in 1791.  "We've seen some of our best news organizations face cuts, and sometimes wave after wave of cuts."  Westin said the point is that, while the news business has to change, "we must be very careful in choosing which changes to make to insure that we will always be able to tell the truth to the American people about the things that matter to them."  He said that meant more than simply reading wire copy or having a TV reporter standing next to a dozen other TV reporters saying the same thing, or airing video that everyone has already seen on broadcast or cable or the Internet.  Westin committed to enterprise journalism and investigative teams that have the "time and resources" to investigate the truth about people in power.  And he said beat reporters would continue to be important to "sort through all that chaff to find the kernel of truth that no one else can find."  He also said that the First Amendment requires long-form documentaries.
Broadcasting & Cable


Facts are Worth Paying For, Williams Says
NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor Brian Williams told a room full of journalists Thursday (March 4) that news organizations need to invest in the kind of real reporting that separates facts from information, and the public should be willing to pay for it. Williams was in Washington to receive the Len Zeidenberg First Amendment award from the Radio Television Digital News Foundation.  He used as an example of the importance of separating the difference between two stories that he said greeted him as he got off the train in Washington and prepared to do the news from NBC's bureau there.  One story, presented as an online fact, was that Chief Justice John Roberts was resigning.  NBC checked it out and he wasn't.  The Website had to change its story, but not, ironically, before a law professor conducting a Georgetown  seminar about unsourced reporting reported that the chief justice was going to resign.  Within minutes it had been Tweeted to the wider world, he said.  The other story was about a shooting at a Pentagon metro station that proved to be true.  Both were information, he said, but only one of them was news that actually happened.  "Information is easy," he said.  "Facts are very tough.  They're best when they are right.  And we've got to be right every day and every night."  Williams suggested that journalism's economic model should stem from that adherence to the truth.  "Facts should be worth paying for.  Williams said that not only are a lot of people angry at the media, but a lot of people want to be the media.  He said that was fine, but distinguished it from the professional journalists in the room, which included CBS Radio reporter Cami McCormick, injured in Afghanistan last year.  "A lot of us in this room have been willing to give our lives for the First Amendment we celebrate."
Broadcasting & Cable


Obama to Mark 'America's Most Wanted' Anniversary
President Barack Obama is going to help TV's "America's Most Wanted" mark the milestone broadcast of its 1,000th episode.  Obama will be interviewed by the show's host, John Walsh, on the episode airing 9 p.m. EST Saturday on Fox.  The president will discuss the show's impact in its 22 years as well as his administration's anti-crime initiatives, including those involving white-collar crime, Fox said Wednesday.  Walsh, whose 6-year-old son Adam was abducted and killed in 1981, has been host of "America's Most Wanted" since its start.  According to Fox, the show has helped capture more than 1,100 fugitives and reunited 43 missing children with their families.
Yahoo News


Palin Pitches Alaska TV Docudrama
Sarah Palin, TV producer?  Multiple sources confirm that Palin and uber-reality show producer Mark Burnett have been making the rounds in Hollywood this week to pitch a TV docudrama about Alaska.  One source called it a “planet-Earth type look” at Palin’s home state.  The former candidate for the vice presidency was seen leaving ABC today with Burnett, and an insider confirmed that she met with reality topper Mike Darnell yesterday at Fox (where she and her family ended the day by visiting American Idol.  Palin stayed in the green room).  She also stopped by CBS today and plans to meet with NBC Universal TV Chairman Jeff Gaspin tomorrow.  When asked about the meeting, one executive quipped, “she’s pitching a sequel to Commander in Chief,” a reference to the ABC drama from Rod Lurie that starred Geena Davis as the first female president.  Palin began her week in Los Angeles by appearing on The Tonight Show, where she told Leno that her previous dream was to be to become a sportscaster – and then she told some jokes.  She also took advantage of Oscar week by visiting gift suites.
Hollywood Insider


Dagnabbit My Dad Should Say?
The S— My Dad Says pilot has rounded out its cast: William Shatner as the dad and now Ryan Devlin as the Twitter-happy son.  Devlin may be best known as Smith from Cougar Town, but he’ll always be Mercer from Veronica Mars to me.  The fact that CBS is going to have to clean everything up for network makes me sort of sad; part of what’s funny is thinking about a 74-year-old guy saying these incredibly crass things.  My can-they-make-this-PG-13 fears will be calmed if CBS can clear one major hurdle: What are they going to retitle it?  Stuff My Dad Says?  Crap My Dad Says?  Dads Say the Darnedest Things?  A Dad, A Son, and a Twitter Account?  Help CBS out, PopWatchers: What’s the network-appropriate title for S––– My Dad Says? Click to vote:
Popwatchers


Stupid Super Bowl Tricks Creep Into Oscars
Dear "Creative" PR Firms (and Your Misguided Clients),
Listen up.  Your cheap ploys to get media coverage might work on TV news outlets and tabloids, but we're not buying it.  In fact, we're so not buying it, we're not even going to name your client.  But suffice it to say that if you thought for a second that a broadcast network was going to give over air-time to a dating service for adulterers during the Academy Awards -- well, we'd like some of what you're smoking.  But we know that you know better.  You've cottoned on to the fact that many media outlets will jump on anything that's supposedly scandalous enough to get banned, or better yet, "censored."  So what if a marketer likely didn't have the intention -- or the money -- to buy some of the most expensive airtime on TV?  Chances are, no one's going to probe too deeply.  And even if someone did, the added bonus is that the networks are so wary of ticking off paying marketers (and future paying marketers) that they'd rather take a hit for censorship than speak publicly about financial dealings with (or financial status of) advertisers.  But here at Ad Age, we try not to reward publicity stunts unless they're extremely funny, compelling, innovative or morally repulsive.  Stealing a concept that's already grown tired over in Super Bowl land and trying to use it during Oscars is none of those.
Or, put another way: Go sell crazy someplace else.  We're all full up here.
AdAge

Back-to-Back Pantsless Ads Confusing, Dockers Claims
Talk about getting caught with your pants down.  After running back-to-back ads in the Super Bowl utilizing the same creative theme -- people walking about without any trousers -- CBS has agreed to give one of the marketers involved additional ad time to make up for the gaffe, according to a person familiar with the situation.  Dockers' Super Bowl ad featured men traipsing about without britches, while signaling to male viewers they ought to grow up and "wear the pants."  Oddly, the ad was preceded by a commercial from online job site CareerBuilder that sported office workers taking the concept of casual Fridays to a strange extreme -- walking around the workplace in their underwear.  Of possible concern: The placement of the two commercials could blur distinctions in consumers' minds.  "The fact the theme of not wearing pants is similar in both, and the fact that they ran back-to-back, would make it more confusing for consumers to remember who to attribute each piece of creative to," said Stacey Shepatin, senior VP-director of national broadcast, Interpublic Group of Cos.' Hill Holliday.  Dockers expressed concern, according to a person familiar with the situation, so CBS has allocated the Levi, Strauss & Co. apparel brand three 30-second spots during the NCAA men's basketball championships.  CBS declined to comment, but in a statement, the network said, "The feedback we received from the client was that they were pleased with the ad's performance."  A spokeswoman for CareerBuilder did not return phone calls seeking comment
AdAge


Irish Famine Humor not Amusing to Many, Denny's Finds
The Denny’s restaurant chain had been enjoying a wave of positive publicity after its most recent offer of free breakfasts, made in commercials that ran during the Super Bowl on Feb. 7.  But a subsequent spot has earned the wrath of many consumers.  The spot promoted another offer: to recognize the 150th anniversary of the end of the Irish famine, Denny’s would serve French fries and pancakes in all-you-can-eat portions.  Needless to say, the idea that a tragedy like starvation could serve as fodder for a restaurant chain’s ad campaign did not sit well with consumers of Irish descent — or of other ancestries.  The spot began circulating through social media outlets like Facebook, which meant that any complaints it would generate would be amplified considerably, as other recent flaps over the contentious contents of commercials have demonstrated.  Among those criticizing Denny’s was the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Irish news media.  After the complaints rolled in, Denny’s stopped running the spot, as of Tuesday, and issued a statement, which was provided to a reporter who requested it from a Denny’s public relations representative.  “Denny’s has a history of using humor in its television advertising,” the statement began.  “It is certainly not the intention of the company to offend anyone or any group, and we apologize if this spot has in any way.”  The apology did little to mollify those who had complained about the spot, which was created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, part of the Omnicom Group.  Some commented in the social media that Denny’s ought to make donations, on behalf of the Irish community, to organizations that fight hunger.
Media Decoder


Twitter Hits 10 Billion Tweets
It’s official: Twitter has surpassed 10 billion tweets.  While Gigatweet’s counter is down due to over-traffic, you can tell by the actual tweet ID numbers that we have crossed the magical threshold.  The milestone shows that Twitter’s (Twitter) still growing at a rapid pace: It broke one billion tweets in November 2008 and five billion tweets just four months ago.  We want to also point out that the 10 billionth tweet doesn’t necessarily correlate to the actual 10 billionth tweet — tweet IDs have been tweaked several times due to technical issues such as Twitpocalypse.  Still, it’s close enough, so now it’s time to look to the future and count down towards 20 billion tweets!
Mashable


Bill Maher: Don't Screw With Our Prom!
New Rule: Conservatives have to stop complaining about Hollywood values.

It's the Oscars this weekend, which means two things, one, I've got to get waxed, and two, talkradio hosts and conservative columnists will trot out their annual complaints about Hollywood: We're too liberal, we're out of touch with the heartland, the theater floors are always sticky, our facial muscles have been deadened with chicken botulism, there aren't as many Goobers in a box as there used to be, and we make them feel fat.  To these people, I say -- shut up and eat your popcorn.  And stop bitching about one of the few industries in America that still makes something people all over the world want to buy.  Not to rub it in, but "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" made $400 million.  And that's a squeakquel.

Last year, Hollywood set a box office record: $10.6 billion.  Sixteen billion worldwide.  Not bad for a bunch of socialists.  You never see Hollywood begging Washington for a handout, like corn farmers, or the auto industry, or the entire state of Alaska.  Except for Kevin Smith, we pull our own weight.

What makes it even more inappropriate for conservatives to slam Hollywood is that they more than anybody fall in love with any D-list celebrity who happens to lean to the right, to the point where they actually run them for office.  You don't find the equivalent of Sonny Bono on the left -- or Fred Thompson, or George Murphy, or Congressman Gofer from "The Love Boat."  And let's not forget, the modern conservative messiah is a guy who co-starred with a chimp.  That's right, Dick Cheney.  But also Bonzo's buddy, Ronald Reagan.  Now, I like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but he is an Austrian ham who bragged about drugs and gang-bangs and could speak no English, but when he said he'd run, the family values, anti-immigrant party terminated in their pants.

Which brings us up to the right wing's most recent teen crushes: a couple of cute kids named Sarah Palin and Scott Brown.  Sarah is a former Miss Wasilla who served as the weekend sports anchor on station KTUU in Anchorage before eloping with her high school sweetheart and eventually answering a call to public office.  Scott is a former Miss Cosmo Guy, and his turnoffs are people who don't drive trucks and having to wear clothes. Scott's a senator now, but -- shout-out to the folks at "The Bachelor" -- if you need a stud for Season 19, Scott's totally there.

Politics has become the safety school for show business washouts who are just looking for a way to stay in front of the camera -- the Republican Party is not far from nominating a guy who dropped a hundred pounds on "The Biggest Loser."

Republicans say they hate celebrities who get involved with politics, but you would too if the best celebrities on your side were Chuck Norris and Bo Derek.  I'm not saying no one cares about their stars, but if Stephen Baldwin killed himself and Craig T. Nelson with a car bomb, the headline the next day would be "Two Die in Car Bombing."

The truth is that the vast majority of Hollywood talent are liberals, because most stars adhere to an ideology that jibes with their core principles of taking drugs and getting laid.  The liberal stars that the right are always demonizing -- Sean Penn and Michael Moore, Streisand and Alec Baldwin and Tim Robbins, and all the other members of my biweekly cocaine orgy -- they're just people with opinions.  None of them hold elective office or are trying to, and liberals aren't begging them to run.  Because we live in the real world, where actors do acting, and politicians do... nothing.  But conservatives are like children; they see an actor on TV and think he's really that guy.  Fred Thompson plays a stern judge with a folksy charm -- that guy should be president!

A lot of Republican policy ideas are stripped straight from primetime.  I wish I were kidding, but in one of the Republican debates in '08, they spent the whole hour arguing about plotlines on "24," asking, "What would Jack Bauer do?" and "If he were here right now, which one of us do you think he'd like to go torturing with the most?"

We progressives love our stars, but we know better than to elect them.  We make the movies here, so we know a well-kept trade secret: Those people on that screen are only pretending to be geniuses, astronauts and cowboys.  Besides, we can't elect our liberal stars because they're burdened with an affliction that your average conservative celebrities don't suffer from -- regular work.  So don't hate.  And please, don't ruin the Oscars.  We're just like you.  And the Oscars are really just our prom: The tuxes are scratchy, the limos are rented, and we go home with 18-year-old girls.

Variety

------------------------------
The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills.  Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site.  Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
\n This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter