I wrote a while back about David Foster and his gratuitous use of “F-bombs” in his memoir. At the time I indicated I had thoughts on people who have this propensity and would comment soon. But I quickly lost my mojo and didn’t follow through.
Well I got my mojo back. I took the family to see Nickelback, the popular Canadian rock group, last Friday night and the “F-bombs” were flying. The crowd erupted in a veritable frenzy every time Chad Kroeger (lead singer and Laurie’s musical crush) spake the sacred word. Believe me, it was early and often.
There must be serious power in that word. I remember hearing it for the first time when I was about 4 years old. I asked my mother what it meant and she smacked me. Pretty powerful.
So I began to wonder how much more powerful some of the all time great communicators could have been with a few strategic “F-bombs”:
“The “F’n” British are coming!”
—Paul Revere
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this “F’n” wall!”
—President Ronald Reagan
“Speak softly and carry a big “F’n” stick; you will go far.”
—President Theodore Roosevelt
Okay. I don’t believe it would have made any of these moments any more historic. Nor does it make any movie more watchable (save maybe Die Hard: “Yippe-ki-yay Hanz!” doesn’t quite have the impact), any novel more readable, any rock star more famous, any stand-up comedian more funny, any golf shot fly straighter or any casual conversation more enjoyable.
So do all your friends and family a favor and remove the word from your repertoire. And if you just can’t seem to help yourself, call me and I’ll send mom over.
Cheers!
I was doing some client billing the other day and stumbled across an email conversation between a client and Alan, one of our account executives. In short, the email volley pertained to the possibility of conflicting logos on a small brochure we were designing. The client told us to just do it and not worry about it. Alan’s response was direct, “Sorry, but that’s my job.”
We are brand gatekeepers. Without gatekeepers, brands crumble. Every single thing we do, every single thing we say and every single dollar we spend either builds equity in a brand or contributes to its dilution.
Right now we are witnessing the total annihilation of one of the world’s dominant brands. Make no mistake. Tiger Woods is not just a person. Tiger Woods is a brand. So I’m left to wonder, who was the gatekeeper of the Tiger Woods brand?
Sometimes our job is not easy. Sometimes we’re the bad guys. Sometimes “just do it” is just plain wrong. Wherever you go from this point forward Tiger, make certain you have an Alan in your life.
Cheers.
I just finished reading the memoir of David Foster, music producer extraordinaire. Laurie picked up the book because we’ve really enjoyed watching/listening to his PBS concert special (now in our disc library) “David Foster and Friends.” Even if you don’t recognize his name, you would most certainly recognize his music. Foster banged out hits with Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Michael Bublé, Chicago and Andrea Bocelli just to name a few.
Unfortunately, if the book were a record, it would have been dropped from most playlists…too many dropped names, too many dropped women—who, by the way, all dropped daughters, and too many dropped “F” bombs (commentary to follow shortly on people who drop too many “F” bombs).
There was this one pearl of wisdom though. Read the following excerpt. This made me—for the first time and likely the last—want to be just like Oprah and former President Bill Clinton.
…and I went off to be introduced to Oprah. I’m sure she knew absolutely nothing about me, but within seconds she made me feel as if I were the most fascinating man on the planet. (She and Bill Clinton have that gift in common. Most people are lost in a bottomless black hole of self-absorption, but people like Oprah and Bill make you feel as if you are the most important and fascinating person they’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.) When I told Oprah that the Beatles had been one of my early influences, she wanted to know why, and she was dead serious about it. She wasn’t just going through the motions. And it reminded me of an old saying: “If you find yourself interesting, you’re a bore. But if you find me interesting you’re a genius.”
By the time we sat down to dinner, I knew Oprah was a genius and I was absolutely crazy about her.
“HITMAN – THE MEMOIR OF LEGENDARY MUSIC PRODUCER DAVID FOSTER”
We have a very dear friend who embodies this very principle and she’s positively uplifting to be around. Here’s to our friend Toni! May we all aspire to be more like you, Oprah and Buba. Cheers!
I sat in on a sales presentation earlier this week with one of our long-time clients. The presentation started very quickly (and to my thinking, very poorly) with an assault on the use of traditional advertising mediums…everyone DVRs all TV programs, everyone listens to satellite radio in their cars, all newspapers have gone or are on their way out of business, blah, blah, blah…subjective and irrelevant information designed to baffle.
The product this company is selling is very compelling on its own terms and along with our strategic use of traditional mediums can very likely be accretive to advancing our client’s business to a new level. All in the meeting recognized this fact.
So, here’s the thing…go sell your product based on its own merit, based on results, based on anecdotal information from real case studies. DO NOT INSULT your target audience by launching a truckload of scud missiles. (We all remember scud missiles from Iraq, right? Missiles with no intelligence and subsequently little to no impact.)
Sell based on intelligence! With a wealth of available resources, consumers are more intelligent now than at any time in the history of the world—always assume you’re dealing with smart people. One client remarked recently that he’s found his consumers to possess highly sensitive and highly active “BS Meters.” I can’t agree more.
Therefore, I’m declaring the days of being able to “baffle ‘em with BS” officially over.
Cheers!
