is Goodby responsible for killing Chevy?

Slow news day when story about a company wanting to change its branding hits the front page of New York Times. Or is it clever placement for a whip-smart campaign using free earned media, as Rohit Bhargava suggests it could be?

According to an internal memo leaked to the Times, Chevrolet wants you to stop calling it "Chevy." The memo was from GM to employees at Detroit headquarters: "We ask that whether you're talking to a dealer...or speaking with friends and family, that you communicate our brand as Chevrolet." "Swear jars" have been placed in hallways, and employees who let "Chevy" slip are expected to contribute a quarter. But, wait. Isn't Chevy one of the world's best-known product monikers, and longest lived? And isn't the trend away from proper brand names, to be more consumer-friendly and casual a la FedEx, KFC and The Shack? A GM spokesman who confirmed the memo linked the change to the recent switch from long-time ad agency Campbell-Ewald to Goodby, Silverstein (after a brief stopover at Publicis USA.) Could it be that smart cookies at Goodby "leaked" memo themselves, landing astonishingly good media coverage and generating heated convos about a brand that's been in the doldrums for years? They don't give out those Clio Lifetime Achievements for nothing.

UPDATE: Steve Hall of AdRants reports that GM has released a clarification that states the brand will not, in fact, urge people to discontinue the use of the word Chevy: We deeply appreciate the emotional connections that millions of people have for Chevrolet and its products. Pretty much plays out the way Bhargava predicted.

UPDATED UPDATE: The august Gray Lady devoted a Sunday (best-placement) editorial to Chevrolet vs. Chevy, ending with "foreigners will learn to love 'Chevy' the way Americans have ever since the company was founded in 1911." This is from a New York Times reporter? Or GM annual report?

the business world is no place for ladies

I took my millennial daughter to the Clio Awards last night, which was a splendid affair. Non-recessionary menu (quail eggs and tartar), flowing bar, great work, fun crowd. She still can't get over having been in the same room with Pharrell Williams. But, perhaps because I was seeing things through her eyes, I couldn't help noting how lopsided the awards acceptances were. Virtually all who took the stage to receive them were men. What bothered me more than this was--my daughter didn't notice.

How acclimated we all are to the role of women applauding others. Barbara Lippert (Adweek) and Penny Baldwin (Yahoo) did a swell job presenting well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Awards to Rich Silverstein and Jeff Goodby. But only two women were lauded as winners themselves. The first approached the stage accompanied by a male teammate. She hung in the shadows as he delivered a few words, then he gestured for her step up to the mic. But she was as hesitant to comply as if he'd asked her to give it a blow job. She kept her distance, leaned forward and said only, "Thank you." Later, another woman was honored, but instead of accepting her due, she apologized for it. "I don't want to take up your time. Enjoy your evening," she said, hurrying away.

It's true that the world isn't fair, that the playing field is tilted, that the world's default setting still seems to be Male. Clio jury committees average 9 men to 1 woman. But women tend to worsen the odds by refusing to get comfortable with putting themselves forward. By adhering to vestigial mandates to act like a "lady."

In the lobby, while waiting for the awards ceremony to begin, I met a young guy who'd flown in from Stockholm. "Guess that means you've won something," I said. "A Silver," he nodded. "But I feel a bit sad. They won't let me on stage to accept it." Unfortunately for him, there were too many Clios and not enough time to publicly award them. I asked to take his picture and said I would blog him. His name is Carl Jannerfeldt. He was a copywriter at now-defunct Farfar. He and his team won for building the World's Biggest Signpost. And because he was forthright about his achievement, I know about him and now so do you.

there's more to Clios than statuettes

The Clios aren't only about awards, they're also a two day conference that connects you to insights from movers and thinkers in advertising and digital space. Like Cindy Gallop, former chairperson of BBH, who, after getting audience attention by pulling a jewel-encrusted sex toy out of her bag, leaned into the audience and challenged, "I say this without rancor. But, Guys: Just think: what would it be like to live in a world where the default setting was always for the opposite sex?" (Audience: silence.) In less confrontational but equally interesting presos, Sam Cannon (Organic) and Tom Christmann (JWT) mused on how innovation influences pop culture while Faris Yakob (MDC), Benjamin Palmer (Barbarian) and Michael Lebowitz (Big Spaceship) shared the coolest stuff they've seen on the interwebz. Faris' complete collection here. My favorite is the Towel-Folding Robot, below. One mantra from the morning was Lebowitz's "Failure is cool because it means you've tried something" which I shared at dinner with my millennial daughter who promptly looked up from her vegan plate to declare "That's what they used to tell us in preschool."

Oh, yes! The awards. Last night's ceremony was for Print and TV/Cinema/Digital. Congrats to the winners, listed here. Panels continue today at sleek, just-opened Trump Soho. Tonight, Interactive and Innovative awarded at nearby Skylight Soho.

new award show praises unsung heroes of the internet

The first annual Hive Awards went live yesterday. So named because of the "hive mentality" inherent in building a web site or application. It's the first show created to honor "the unsung heroes of the internet." Conceived by Alan Wolk (of Toadstool fame) to reward excellence in categories that haven't been given the stage before: information architecture, content strategy, coding, APIs and a other jobs rudely referred to as "backend." Entries are divided by industry category, allowing separate judging for each. Admirably levelling the playing field for contenders from categories as diverse as beer vs. pharma. Wish established award shows would make this distinction. Perhaps CLIO is leading the way, with its inaugural CLIO Healthcare awards ceremony taking place in New York tomorrow.

why make it so hard for kids to crash the party?

Attendance was down at the Clios this year, confirmed by Nielsen's Director of Events Karl Vontz who added, sounding upbeat, that the quality of attendees was better--meaning that those able to wangle expenses from lean travel departments were execs higher on agency hierarchies.

Notably diminished in number were the eager young who swarm shows, making no secret they're trying to jump levels or jump shop.

One junior team came at their own expense--which didn't include the price of the $1550+ tickets. A freelance writer and AD from San Francisco anointed themselves "Crash the Clios."

"Why are we doing this," they asked on their blog. (Of course--they had a blog.) Because no one is going to send us... because it’s the 50th anniversary... because we feel all you need in advertising to make it is cojones and a good story. Truth was, they were there for the same reason many others were: to make connections that could lead to work.

At first, their attempts to infiltrate were thwarted by hotel security. The show was held at the Hard Rock Hotel, host to Rehab TV shoots for which security is tantamount to training for the old KGB. But thanks to intervention of Agency Spy, they managed to procure passes and spent the next couple of days live-tweeting, milling about and generally contributing to conversation.

My question is--why were they so resented? When Agency Spy posted about their presence, comments ranged from nasty: The last things creatives want to do at award shows is meet eager people looking for a job to vitriolic: Rather than sending some naive kids into the clios to pester folks who paid good money to be there, howsabout going and doing YOUR damn job and getting us the skinny on what's happening out there?


Have we become the type of business that eats its young? OK, financial investing in the next generation may be a thing of the past (remember paid internships and executive training sessions?) but a word of advice or encouragement costs nothing--yet proves invaluable to those launching careers. Remember?

Did the reaction have to do with a new meanspiritedness on Madison Avenue that Alan Wolk observed recently? Or did people unconsciously feel they were doing a favor by imparting the lesson most needed to succeed in this business: overcoming rejection.
_______________________________

UPDATE--DISCLOSURE
Crash the Clios Team comes out of hiding to disclose contact info. (Now that they're safely back in SF and no longer in fear of retribution by Hard Rock security goons.) Good luck to art director Patrice Speed and copywriter Christopher Ryan. Hope your ingenuity and chutzpah pays off in card keys.

postcards from vegas

Last night was the CLIO Moving Image Awards (formerly known as Television) and the show opened with a Walk of Fame where larger than life icons of classic commercials bounced, danced and jiggled down a red carpet: Kool-Aid Man, Nesquik Bunny, Michelin Man, Charlie the Tuna. Big line for photos with Morris the Cat. Yep, I succumbed.



It wouldn't be Vegas without Barry Manilow who was honored with a Clio for his contributions to advertising, jingles he obligingly belted out in a medley on a white baby grand: You deserve a break today...I am stuck on BandAid...Like a good neighbor...All across the nation, it's the Pepsi generation...It's the most original soft drink...Up, up and away...no wait, he didn't write that one, only suggested it for the next Viagra commercial. He was wildly cheered by a standing crowd, some of whom held up lighters in tribute. (yes lighters. It's Vegas. You can smoke indoors. And engage in other activities the real world prohibits.)



Vintage spots from the 70s and 80s evoked nostalgic sighs from the audience. Remeber Coke's Mean Joe Green from 1979?



The kid who handed the Coke to Mean Joe was honored with a CLIO last night, 40 years later. He's Tom Okon. His dad was a Mad Man at Benton & Bowles and invited his brother to a casting session. Tom tagged along and was cast for the spot instead. He's got four kids of his own now. When I asked if he was in the business, he look surprised. Nope. He owns a construction company.



Extending the theme of Former Child Stars Now on the Speaking Circuit, presenter for the evening was Chris Knight. Peter from the Brady Bunch, remember?



Still here? You must be reading to find out who won the awards. Click through.

CLIO awards for emerging (some would say already hatched) media

High energy and entertainment value at last night's CLIO awards for Emerging Media. (Emerging? Neil Robinson, AKQA CD bridled at this in a panel: "Is it still 1997? Why are we still talking about the novelty of digital?")

No surprise that Crispin Porter + Bogusky took Gold in Interactive for Whopper Sacrifice which ECD Rob Reilly pointed out leveraged both social media and human nature. A Facebook application convinced more than 233,000 to defriend someone in return for a free Whopper. Dumped friends were informed they'd been sacrificed in messages that included their profile pics in flames. Facebook stepped in, disabling the app as it violated FB policy of not informing users when defriending occurs. But by then, the campaign had already converted 233,000 consumers and generated incalcuable free press and WOM. Crispin cleverly leveraged the fallout by cross-platforming the news in traditional print.

Another no brainer: Obama campaign won Gold for Integrated. Dipdive acceptor said, humbly, "Our client was the American people." No wonder their "product" was named Ad Age Marketer of the Year. A companion campaign, the hilariously effective "The Great Schlep" won Silver in Content & Category.



Surprises were multitudes of strong showings from afar. Particularly impressive was Silver winner for Innovative Media: BBDO Auckland's campaign for New Zealand Book Council. Brief: Encourage people to read again. Concept: Disguise books as computer documents so people will be able to read them at work, despite BOS. And organize books into an online library diguised to look like a Windows desktop.

An Aussie campaign for a travel company  was produced, interestingly, by an alliance between a strategic agency The Hallway and a creative one Happy Soldiers. How to get people to take vacations during a recession? Produce household staples and price them for pennies, so shoppers can spend money on travel instead.

Gold winner for viral (I know you hate that word) was Superfad's brilliant because oh-so-simple concept executed in charming animation for Durex. (As of today, 2.8 million unpaid views)



Lots more CLIO goodness (including stunningly sophisticated work from students at NYC's School of Visual Arts and Miami Ad School) in full list of winners here.

me and my new BFF Matt Weiner

Of course, the highlight of last night's CLIO awards for me was getting the opportunity to speak with Matt Weiner, recipient of first honorary CLIO award which wasn't a shiny gold statuette (his spots for the Relaxicizer would have to be real to earn one of those) but instead the more understated and recession-appropriate Lucite.

He is also creator of characters I ran away with on Twitter. So I was a little nervous about shaking hands with him. But "Mind?" he asked, looking incredulous. "I love what you're doing with Betty Draper!" Heartening words indeed from the man who created her. He said he loved all the Mad Men on Twitter and asked me to thank the other writers behind them. Sheepishly adding that he doesn't twitter himself. Yet.

I was impressed by his warmth and patience for photo-opps with fans who swarmed him. And by his generous words on the stage: I was interested in the history of advertising, and ironically I get to be a part of advertising history. But what most impressed me was that after accepting his award, he didn't bolt backstage to party or jet home to LA. He humbly stepped down, took a seat at a front table and watched attentively as others gathered their awards, looking rapt through even the student competitions. He is an old-school gentleman just like Don Draper. And, apparently, just as captivated by the business of advertising.

hitting gold in las vegas

Congrats to those who took home the gold last night. Against all odds: Grand Prize was for Pharma. In spite of this (or maybe inspired by it) CLIO announced it will be launching a new award for Healthcare. In recognition of the difficulty of competing in a category which requires half an ad to be written by lawyers. Submission process opens in July and winners to be honored at a ceremony in New York in October. (Sort of like an industry Special Olympics?)

2009 Grand CLIO Award for Print:
• CLM BBDO, Boulogne-Billancourt, Pharmaceuticals, Dissolve Your Problems “Bear, Paparazzi, Magician, Prison” for Alka-Seltzer (Grand CLIO Winner in Print)

Gold CLIO Awards for Print:
• Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London, Corporate/Institutional, “Inner Child” for Museum of Childhood
• AlmapBBDO, São Paulo, Automotive, Volkswagen Customized Trucks “Volkswagen Customized Trucks - Beer Box, Volkswagen Customized Trucks - Fruit Box, Volkswagen Customized Trucks - Milk Box, Volkswagen Customized Trucks - Egg Box” for Volkswagen Trucks
• BBDO Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Automotive, Two Worlds “Bushman & Eskimo, Husky & Camel, Mountain Goat & Crocodile” for Jeep
• Clemenger BBDO, Wellington, Public Service, Crashed Beds “Bridge, Tree, Creek” for Driver Fatigue
• Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Martinez, Health Care Services, “Children – Tree” for Hospital Alemán - Kinder Plan
• Leo Burnett & Arc Worldwide Thailand, Bangkok, Home Furnishings/Appliances, “Chicken, Fish, Lobster” for WMF
• McCann Erickson, Madrid, Public Service, “Woman Shoe” for Greenpeace
• Miami Ad School Europe (Student - Sandra Nicolas), Hamburg, Student, Inspired By Life “Porridge, Brother, Aunt” for IKEA
• Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide, Petaling Jaya, Public Service, “Stop” for Guinness
• TBWA\PARIS, Boulogne-Billancourt, Household Products, Mir Black “Mir Black - Spider, Mir Black – Arms” for Henkel
• TBWA\PARIS, Boulogne-Billancourt, Household Products, Mir Laine “Mir Laine 1, Mir Laine 2, Mir Laine 3, Mir Laine 4” for Henkel

Gold CLIO Awards for Direct Mail:
• Lowe Limited, Bangkok, Dimensional, “Torture Test” for Breeze Excel Washing Detergent
• Philipp und Keuntje GmbH, Hamburg, Collateral, “Balloon” for Chubb Nord-Alarm Security Systems Company

Gold CLIO Awards for Radio:
• DDB Chicago, Chicago, Beverages/Alcoholic, Real Men of Genius “Mr. Rain Delay Tarp Roller Outer, Mr. Golf Quiet Sign Holder, Mr. Football End Zone Painter, Mr. Football First Down Marker” for Anheuser-Busch
• Grey, Melbourne, Public Service, Pictures of You “Anne, George, Martin” for Anti-Speed Message
• Grey South Africa, Sandton, Public Service, “Shark Attack” for Shark Life
• Grupo Gallegos, Long Beach, Media, Subtitles “Epic, Robinson, Horror” for Comcast CableLatino
• Network BBDO, Johannesburg, Travel/Tourism, Plain Insanity “Ferret, Dancer, Dog” for Virgin Atlantic Airlines - Upper Class Suites
• Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, Business Equipment/Services, Compression Radio “Soap Opera Romance, Eating Candy, Calling Tech Support” for StuffIt Deluxe

Gold CLIO Awards for Poster:
• Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, London, Corporate/Institutional, “Inner Child” for Museum of Childhood
• BBDO Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Automotive, Two Worlds “Bushman & Eskimo, Husky & Camel, Mountain Goat & Crocodile” for Jeep
• Big Ant International, New York, Public Service, “What Goes Around Comes Around” for Global Coalition for Peace
• Contract Advertising India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, Public Service, “Family Name” for Aadhar Association
• Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Martinez, Health Care Services, Children “Tree, Cookie, Stairs” for Hospital Alemán - Kinder Plan
• KNARF (Students - Annie Chiu, Anna Echiverri), New York, Student, “Subway Bench” for Victoria’s Secret

Gold CLIO Awards for Billboard:
• DDB London, London, Media, “Global Downturn” for Financial Times
• Leo Burnett Canada, Toronto, Beverages/Alcoholic, “Share Our Billboard Campaign” for James Ready

Gold CLIO Awards for Strategic Communications/Public Relations (new category this year for "innovative use of any form of unpaid publicity and messaging that drives credibility, awareness, reputation, and relationships between a company or organization and its consumers or constituents"):

• Edelman, Chicago, Consumer, “FilterForGood: Better Water, Less Waste” for Brita
• Ketchum, San Francisco, Consumer, “Haagen-Dazs loves Honey Bees: Let's Lick This Problem” for Haagen-Dazs

greetings from vegas. but where were the CLIO's in 1963?

Writing this from (as the sign says) "Fabulous Las Vegas" where the Clio Awards is celebrating its 50th anniversary by showcasing statuette-winners from five decades. They'll also be honoring Matt Weiner tonight for his Mad Men work that dramatizes advertising in the 1960s, generally considered to be the turning point in the business, the time when advertising became a legitimate career instead of a shady enterprise propogated by hucksters. (You may not agree that this shift occurred.)

Betty Draper will be tweeting the event with other Mad Men on Twitter. (From a 1963 POV, of course.) Of course she'll be far more dressed up than most attendees. In the 60s, award shows were black tie. Every gentleman owned one. The few female invitees toted gowns and heels to their offices and you didn't want to go to the ladies room at 5 PM when air was heavy with perfume and hairspray and you'd likely see a boss in her girdle.

Doing a little research into CLIO archives turns up names long gone, but not quite forgotten: Normal, Craig & Kummel; NW Ayer; Oglivy, Benson & Mather; Paper, Koenig, Lois; Benton & Bowles (more commonly referred to as B&B.)

Still-vibrant DDB won best in 1963 for this sixty-second long (interminable, by our standards) spot using actor Jack Gilford for Cracker Jacks. Creative kudos went to writer Judy Protas (though the spot is silent) and inimitable art director Bob Gage.