Life After the 30-Second Spot
Please allow me to break from the strictly interactive movie marketing format to call your attention to an important book that transcends brand advertising and deals with many of the threads in this blog.
I've been reading Joseph Jaffe's blog and listening to his podcast, Across the Sound, for a year now. Unfortunately, it's taken me this long to finish his book - and fulfill the promise I made to him to review it on my blog. Hey, with two kids and a business to run, who's got time to read books?
Probably the coolest part of this review is the fact that Joseph Jaffe bartered for it in a very open-source way. He calls it "Use New Marketing To Prove New Marketing" and it goes like this: Promise to review my book on your blog, and I'll send you a free copy. How could I resist?
Jaffe forces us to look past the catchy title and start thinking about advertising in new ways. Maybe it's not the 30-second spot, but the billboard or the newspaper ad, or even the banner ad. It's about training our brains to think in terms of pull instead of push. It's about pushing our clients to disengage from the status quo. This book implores us to recognize that advertising as we know it is changing before our eyes and if we don't wise up and start living New Marketing today, we'll be left in the dust.
Did I know this before I read the book? Yes. But I felt it in my gut. I sensed the sea changing around me and set a new course. So is this book for the enlightened ones who "got it" in 2004? Definitely, because what Jaffe does is confirm this feeling with facts and indisputable figures, while surprising us know-it-alls with several new concepts and strategies.
In the last section, Jaffe outlines 10 Approaches That Are Transforming the Marketing and Advertising Games - all of which are extremely applicable to interactive movie marketing - including Communal Marketing, Consumer-Generated Content, On-Demand Viewing, Search and Mobile. Each approach is detailed in-depth, providing insights that that will inspire even the most savvy marketer.
Aside from all this life-changing stuff, it's really a fun and easy read. Jaffe brings his witty, pun-riddled, sometimes goofy, but always entertaining and on occasion brilliant style of delivering a philosophy he is so obviously passionate about and you can't help but drink the punch.
Every time I recommend this book or the podcast, I feel as if I'm betraying myself by giving away a trade-secret weapon. But if there's one thing Joe has taught me, it's to give open-source and you shall receive open-source.
