television http://www.bizcovering.com/tags/television New posts about television Advertising Hasn't Really Changed That Much http://www.bizcovering.com/Marketing-and-Advertising/Advertising-Hasnt-Really-Changed-That-Much.239581 Advertisers are still finding unique ways to insult us and denigrate us to sell a product. For years my complaints were about the way that African-American women in the media were portrayed but I now realize that everyone is fair game. For example I finally figured out what they were saying in that Taco Bell commercial with the two women in the club, and the one has a bacon chalupa and I have to admit it is very disrespectful. In fact I'm not surprised feminists aren't all over this. The message is very similar to that of the Hardee's commercial where the girl says that she just really loves meat, you know the one where she wants a Philly Steak hamburger and the guy is like "that's a lot of meat" and she giggles and is like "yeah, ... I just like a lot of meat".

Where are your censors when you need them? Yet that pales in comparison to the more sophisticated ads by companies such as McDonalds; for example they had this one ad that shows a Black woman working in a high-rise office doing anything and everything to sabotage and humiliate her White male co-worker, for no particular reason whatsoever. It wasn't clear if the message was that a Black woman will do anything over food, if food was a metaphor for something else entirely or simply to suggest that a Black woman will resort to desperate measures to get ahead in the workplace. I mean she was really letting him have it, for no apparent reason. The commercial ran for quite some time.

Of course that pales in comparison to an old Calvin Klein ad I saw in the Source years back that featured a Black male wearing all red, looking angry, and a White male on the next page, dressed in all White. Of course by that time Calvin Klein was getting desperate and trying really hard to compete with the Benetton ads, which made his stuff look lame by comparison. It could have been my imagination, but I swore I remember like red horns and a halo thrown in for extra effort.

Everyone remembers the old Pine-Sol ads with the ignorant Black housekeeper showing White people how to clean up house properly. She may as well have been the maid on The Jeffersons. But the real question is, where are the feminists, the angry White men, the civil rights leaders on all of this. We say that we're getting along, but then our intelligence is insulted and we're right back to those old offensive AT&T ads showing the dark continent of Africa. So what gives, are we just plain out tired or is life too hectic and moving along at too fast of a pace for us to really care.

I am a big fan of advertisements, in fact my favorite is a little known Intellivision ad where a kid who is obviously a fan of the console meets up with the spokesman of the company in a suburb which looks to be one of those suburban sprawl areas of eighties Southern California and is in awe. The interaction between the man and the kid is timeless, and that one commercial is a bigger statement of the influence of gaming, or of the power of advertising alone, than any I've ever seen. In fact I'd put it up there with some of the Coke ads, and we all know that they're the undisputed champion of advertising. Coke was doing rather well until they digressed to using CGI and hired Jack White to create the most pop rock song ever but that is neither here or there.

What happened to timeless advertising; Superbowl ads suck and without the infamy of another Janet Jackson trying to answer her younger competition halftime leaves much to be desired. Stop finding creative ways to say "Screw you, you're going to buy our stuff anyway" or insult my intelligence with Mac vs. Windows ads and give me something real. Those old ads are timeless; it's too bad advertisers have ran out of creative ways to entertain us ...

]]> Wed, 03 Sep 2008 04:48:16 PST Five Points to Consider When Working for Telemarketing Firms http://www.bizcovering.com/Employment/Five-Points-to-Consider-When-Working-for-Telemarketing-Firms.44286 Many of these companies are good training grounds for products that lie out there on the market, anything from headsets to health plans, from public television drives to website hosting. The idea is to fill a niche and have people to promote that for you but I would not compromise myself unless I had to. There are healthier jobs out there where the employee is respected for his contributed and not harassed. If you are starting up, I will mention a few delicate points

  1. Some telemarketing companies put you through extensive testing procedures to see if you could pass their grades before they put you out on the floor. I liken this to academic studies. They may get a very good indication of a person's ability to perform but if the level of passing is a ninety and you pull an 88 average, does that mean the employer should wipe you off their employment list?
    This is a form of harassment that causes unnecessary stress when the employee has not even set foot on the sales floor. He may have had difficulty surfing for customer information and had a slow start but why should that be a barometer to how he will perform on the floor when he will become more familiar with surfing the sponsored sites and get information out to the client. Potential employees should explain their objection to being tested and then possibly rejected before the training occurs to avoid the stress.
  2. Another telemarketing company would advertise training for two weeks when actually training was not more than an hour and the agent was left to his own devices before having a chance to listen into calls three days later. Once the agent was hired, by the way, what appeared to be fourteen dollars an hour during the training period would go down to ten if the person had to be absent
    Here potential employees should check out the pay parameters before employment to see if the offer in the ad matches the reality of the job place. He may use this to bargain over the pay especially if there is a yearly salary involved.
  3. The trainer may have a haphazard way of training, accusing the agent of being argumentative and discrediting the owner. If the trainer is looking for excuses to throw the agent out, like accusing him of arguing with the potential client when there was only a singular rebuttal then he is doing very well. Of course the agent should listen politely to his superior to avoid any friction. The agent listened to the manager himself, who used rebuttals, himself in reference to promoting web hosting by saying that hard copy phone books were becoming less popular than on-line web assistance. Evidently the manager's rebuttal was not argumentative but the agent's was.
    This situation is a bit tricky. If the potential agent sees that the trainer is looking for bogus accusations or talks a mile a minute to explain web hosting and then accuses the agent of creating discord when he has not even completed his training to test different rebuttal techniques, then the agent should not start altogether. The manager's extra quick pace is a clear indication of his dislike to be fair to newcomers who are unfamiliar with his program. Training has to require listening in and fair monitoring not exaggerated comments that are totally untrue such as accusations of leaving too much dead space between spoken lines on the part of the agent. The telemarketer that is going to succeed has to talk incisively without creating doubt in the potential buyer. Some people are born with the ability to talk smoothly while others need to acquire this.
  4. Agents should also look at the work conditions before even coming on board. If the manager smokes in his office, open to the telemarketers, that is against the law and should be reported to the local labor commission. Other conditions would have to be continually exposed to stereo music that interferes with your ability to hear the customer.
    Here the agent should have understood that if he minds breathing in secondary smoke in the managers office, he is going to breathe in a lot more once he starts working. He is going to have to concentrate on the potential sale and not on the surrounding noise or smoke if he will make any headway.
  5. Years ago I had the disadvantage of not knowing how to prospect the internet for potential clients. This problem can still exist for new employees especially when being hired by companies that pressure you into hitting top paying accounts. Other agents coming from marketing backgrounds had had some experience and were able to get good accounts to begin with but if you were not wise, you could spend vital time with small accounts that would not purchase regularly because of their lower turnover.
    Here the prospective agent should gain as much experience surfing the internet for business accounts especially if the potential employer expects you to deepen accounts early.
]]> Wed, 05 Sep 2007 11:17:12 PST In With The Old Out With The New http://www.bizcovering.com/Marketing-and-Advertising/In-With-The-Old-Out-With-The-New.26905 I read the Hula Hoop and the Yo Yo are making a comeback. Thanks to dollar stores, I do not know if they ever really left. Still, they are on the horizon as a couple of the new in fads. Apparently the 21st Century is on its way to earning the label as The Age of Revival. Much of the current marketing is centered on the "what's old is new again" theme.

The theme isn't just for consumer products.

Recycled people is the hottest commodity going right now. Sports tops the list with people like Morten Anderson coming out of retirement to kick his way into the record books. After a year out of football, he has comeback to become the new NFL all time scoring leader. Roger Clemens seems to retire and unretire seasonally. It would seem a wave of $25 million for a quarter of season of work does the trick. Newt Gingrich after stepping out the political limelight due to questionable actions is gaining support to re-enter the political arena as a presidential hopeful. One would surmise that after the Clinton antics in office we have the fallout of the "Hey, I could do that" effect.

Recycled Entertainment

The movie industry is not just churning out remakes but pounding out sequels to 20 year old action movie franchises with the main stars over 60. Sly Stallone and the latest Rocky movie proving old icons can find success. Not to mention giving his brother Frank another shot at both acting and singing careers. I fear though for Frank, if you blink, you will miss him altogether in the movie. It rather reflects the impact of both his acting and singing past. Harrison Ford reports he is up for another installment of Indiana Jones or at the age of 64 maybe we should refer to it as Indiana Groans.

Television not to be left behind is recycling former headline stars like Howie Mandel, Bob Saget and famous for being famous LaToya Jackson. Miss Jackson's newest exposure might prove brother Michael is really not her in drag. TV has also decided to once again beckon movie stars for weekly series programming like Timothy Hutton, James Woods and Ray Liotta. Tim's show was kidnapped by the ratings. Ray did not come close to succeeding. I never guessed James would succeed, but he did.

The comic book industry gets pumped with adrenaline as both TV and the movie industries turn to them as just they had before. Spiderman launched the infusion followed by the X-Men. Batman and Superman returned the small screen and big screen as well. What people do not realize is for years comic book people have been jumping over to the live action genre. Gerry Conway known for killing off Spidey's girlfriend in the comics has been writing for TV and movies. His credit include such shows as Law and Order and Diagnosis Murder along with movies as Conan the Destroyer starring a guy named Arnold Schwarzenegger. Now, comic book writers like Kevin Smith, Brian Singer, and Joss Whedon are Hollywood power players. The medias feed off each other recycling and interweaving creative talents and fictional characters like never before.

Broadway theatres are the mecca of recycling. Miss Saigon has been revived. 42nd Street has been born again. The industry thrives of the rebirth of old product. It might be said they are the gurus of recycling entertainment.

Talk about the music world were recycling is also king. The Rolling Stones are one of the few top groups from the 20th Century not to have another final last tour or reunion. They simply just never stop touring at all. At present the band The Who reigns in the let's do it one last time again category. My fear is if Alzheimer's hits Peter Townshend and Roger Daltrey the band will reform as The Who, What, Where and When.

The automobile industry brings back its own stars.

Ford and Chevrolet brought back classic muscle cars with the Mustang Shelby Cobra and the Camaro. The most is an interesting subplot in resurrection of these concept cars. Gas prices are at historical highs and these vehicles are not fuel efficient. When considering a purchase of one of these revived classics one might want to factor in the gas payments. Would that make it a car loan or a second mortgage in your future?

It would seem the reaching into the past to create the new will become the backbone of the 21st Century economy. Historians will look back at our present and say we epitomized "no matter how much things change, they remain the same." I hope they notice we not only just do it again, but we do it better.

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