News: Big Ideas

Flotsam and Jetsam: Stuff on my mind

I’m Just Saying. . .

Flotsam and Jetsam: Stuff on my mind

By Mike Diccicco

F&J #1: Prufreading—who cares?
Unless your career has been spent entirely in broadcast, it’s probably happened to you: Some spectacular piece of marketing communications arrives from the printer, something you had personally written or managed. You reach for it lovingly and take a look, and there it is . . . a huge, glaring, ugly typo staring you in the face.

I’ve had a few of those errors (thankfully, not TOO many) over my career. I recall the discovery of them as among my worst moments in this business.

But is that sensitivity changing? Are we getting to the point where typos, misspellings and poor grammar are so commonplace in private, public and promotional communications that the person who notices or mentions them is something of a buzz kill or, at the very least, irrelevant?

I have begun to collect typos (hey: it’s better than a ball of string!) and, lately, I’ve seen some beauts.

True story: I just received my first issue of a trade newsletter aimed at ad agencies. The author of the primary article devoted an entire paragraph to the subject of “poor grammar and typo’s.” Are you kidding me: Misspelling the word “typos” in an article complaining about typos? Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.

The newsletter article had two other grammar mistakes as well. Plus, on a promotional page for the newsletter, the copy promises “Expert Advice Specificly for the Ad Industry.” (Note: The boldface and underline are mine.)

Sadly, the above is not a rarity. Language snafus are everywhere these days, even finding their way into TV supers for national spots.

It’s driving me krazy.

F&J #2: Seo works. Seriously.
I remember my first experiences years ago with purported Search Engine Optimization practitioners. I listened to their spiels, absorbed their buzzwords, grasped the principles involved, asked question after question, and promptly said “Bullfeathers” to myself.

While I understood the theory, I did not trust the practice. Too many people were selling something a little bit too amorphous.

Today, thanks to some terrific SEO experiences with a number of professional organizations, my original doubts have been dispelled. I’ve seen intelligent SEO programs work superbly for our clients. In fact, I’m confident in telling people that DBC now offers SEO as a core Internet-marketing service. It’s all good . . . except for one tiny problem.

For a long time, we just never seemed to get around to doing SEO for ourselves. For our own website. Children of the shoemaker.

Talk about a gap in credibility.

Thankfully, the gap has been closed tight. We just launched our new website. And, according to our web team, we “SEOed the sh_t” out of it, using every technique and tactic in the book. More important, it’s working. Try searching for “Conshohoken ad agency” — we moved from nowhere to page two (and climbing) on Google in a little more than two weeks.

Think about it. If your website helps drive your business, isn’t it worth talking to your web team, your marketing department or your agency, and integrating SEO into your new site overhaul?

F&J #3: Best practices for agency searches: commonsense strikes
Did you see the joint press release just issued by the Four A’s and the ANA (Association of National Advertisers)? These two significant trade organizations, representing agencies and advertisers respectively, have joined forces to provide industry recommendations on how the search process for an agency could/should be conducted.

Finally.

Fact is, the search processes in use throughout the marketplace have been broken for so long by so many parties on both sides, it’s hard to believe that this white paper is the first of its kind. But it is, it’s out there, and it calls for a whole host of better practices, from limiting the list of agency invitees to compressing the timelines for the entire process.

Cause for celebration? Hold the confetti. Even though the principles expressed make total, perfect business sense, there is a very real question as to how many advertisers and agencies will conduct themselves based on the recommendations.

But, at least there is now some kind of standard. There are guidelines. Let’s hope for the best.

And there you have it. Stuff that’s on my mind. And btw: I’m not saying you have to agree with me. I’m not saying you should care. I’m just saying . . .

Mike Diccicco is president of Diccicco Battista Communications. You can reach Mike to agree with him, disagree, or call him a doofus at mdiccicco@dbcworks.com.