Dr. Pepper "We Exist" campaign; social network

I saw a funny, smart and effective commercial for Diet Dr. Pepper tonight on TV. Smart, funny, and effective. Who knew Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny were in the same support group? See the "I Exist Support Group" video below. Dr. Pepper's taken it one step further and created a faux social networking site called "We Exist" that you can find here. Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and more posting updates, videos and pics. You can find the network here.

Here's the "I Exist Support Group" video.

Ace Hardware: Less is More

I grew up in the small town of Greeneville, TN and can recall visiting the local feed and supply store with my dad from time to time. We’d walk in the doors, past the bails of hay and potted flowers lining the windows of the store front and the owner, a guy named Buck, would stop my dad and talk with him for a bit about how life had been treating them both lately. There was a table in the back, next to the soda fountain, where old men sat playing cards, wasting away the day smoking cigarettes and drinking cups of black coffee.

It was a welcoming store, a place you always felt at home. A few years later, Lowes opened a store on the bypass but my dad refused to shop there. At the time, I didn’t understand why and didn’t really care, but as time has passed and our lives have grown more busy by the days, I’ve come to understand why my dad preferred the local feed and supply store over Lowes, or Home Depot for that matter.

My dad enjoyed his chats with Buck and the guys playing cards. He felt accepted, recognized and valued. He knew where everything was and didn’t have to walk half a mile around the store to find some nails and potting soil.

My wife and I just recently renovated our home and I have to admit I spent a lot of time in our local Home Depot and Lowes. Both of the stores are incredibly busy, unless you’re shopping in the winter months and more importantly, I began to take note of a trend in customer service. More times than not, I had to seek out a store employee to help me and more times than not, when I found the employee, they were surrounded by a crowd of gaggling customers seeking all sorts of answers and assistance. You either waited your turn and lost 20 minutes of valuable time, or you pushed a seemingly well-hidden button that summoned an employee for assistance, only to discover that when they arrived, they referred you to another employee, paging a new assistant over their walkie-talkie as they scooted away and on to better things.

I was driving home from work one day and remembered that I needed something from the hardware store and was dreading the thought of braving Home Depot, Lowes or even Wal-Mart for that matter. As I was thinking of a way to avoid the trip, I passed by the only Ace Hardware I’ve ever known to be in Knoxville and decided to stop.

The moment I walked through the door an employee welcomed me and asked if there was any way he could help me. He directed me toward the isle that I needed. I still needed a few things and upon walking out of the isle a different employee was waiting to ask if I needed help. The store was calm and the personnel were more than accommodating. The floors were well-worn, the shelves were old, the lighting wasn’t the best I’d ever seen but nonetheless, this little hardware store had a little of everything that I needed. I’ve been shopping at Ace Hardware ever since.

For years I’d never shopped at Ace Hardware and always thought less of it because let’s face it, comparatively they’re usually located in older buildings, much smaller than Lowes or Home Depot and in the case of the Knoxville store, it doesn’t look like any one is ever there.

My point is this: it’s the experience that matters. It’s the ease of visiting a smaller store, it’s the customer service you receive when you walk in the door and it’s the fact that even thought it’s not the glitzy hardware mega-store of the new millennium, maybe less is more. Sometimes, you don’t have to try so hard to be the best, just the local feed and supply store. Less is more.

TV ad placement a tricky business

Television ad placement is a tricky business. Sponsors pay for advertisements that are utilized in a few different ways. First, ads are run that specifically target a demographic during a certain time of the day or on certain channels. For instance, a sponsor wanting to target 35-50 year old adults who are news-savvy might target the six o’clock news hour on a local affiliate of ABC, CBS or NBC.

Second, when special programming is announced in advance, news stations sell ad time to sponsors whose product/services match well with the special programming. For instance, if a program about identity theft is running on Dateline NBC, those in the sales department at the local affiliate might target a local company who provides identity theft protection services.

Third and most rarely, sponsors themselves seek out local affiliates and pay for ad time during special programming which might negate the topic of the programming itself. For instance, if President Obama is hosting a town hall forum on his health care plan, a private insurance company may request ad time during that programming to offer the viewer, their target demographic, an alternative to a nationalized health care plan.

These are just some of the ways that ad space is sold on television these days. To be done well and flawlessly requires a sales and promotions department that ensures there are no conflicts between the sponsor’s ad and the programming it airs along side.

If you’re a fan of AMC’s Mad Men, you know that conflicts arise between an ads message and programming, mostly due to an oversight. A recent example of this was an ABC Nightline special that aired last night on mental health disorders and specifically, those organizations and health care professionals advocating against wide-spread prescribing and treatment of mental health medication and intervention.

During the show, the local ABC affiliate, WATE Channel 6 displayed a banner in the bottom right corner of the screen that included the current temperature and time for viewers. The banner was sponsored by Covenant Health, an East Tennessee health care provider who specializes in providing patients with an array of mental health services and programs.

To the informed viewer, which I would assume most who watch a late-night news hour are, it appeared that the Covenant Health ad and the programming were in complete contradiction to one another. Was Covenant Health trying to make a statement? Did they specifically request their logo be shown during this Nightline special? I highly doubt it.

As someone who has publicly suffered with an anxiety disorder for many years, I’m personally against the idea of not prescribing medications for mental disorders and believe in the services that Covenant Health provides to its patients. Medication is a God-send and there is absolutely nothing wrong with utilizing its benefits to lead a happy, healthy and productive life. It doesn't make you any less of a person, on the contrary.

This begs the question, why was the Covenant Health ad run during this Nightline programming, clearly in opposition to one another? It was an oversight, I’m sure, not one that screws the pooch but an oversight nonetheless. Covenant’s money could have been better utilized during a different program. *Note* I am an avid viewer of WATE programming and have enjoyed a fruitful relationship with the station for many years.

This is only an example of how ad placement can go wrong and no doubt the other local affiliates for CBS and NBC have made oversights as well. Feel free to chime in.