I give up - I’m exhausted. I am a former believer, but things change and it’s time for all of us in the marketing world to rid ourselves of the word demographics. Even today I was once again dragged back into the meaningless dialog.

Demographics tend to be an archaic method to group people. While I believe there is some useful meaning to the idea, it tends to be way over viewed in importance. Yes, “birds of a feather, flock together” as Prizm puts it and yes, many 15 year olds have grown up on line. But demographics reveal little in the way of  attitudes, values, beliefs, yet we hang onto them and make critical communication and spending decisions based primarily on demographics.

Soon someone will write the book or someone may have already with the Al Reis like title “Demographics are dead.” It will sell.

There must be better ways to make decisions, better information, improved effectiveness. What are the next tools?

There is now more than ancedotal evidence that beliefs, values, attitudes are more important in making brand decisions than age, income and education. How else can we explain the Mercedes in the WalMart parking lot. It’s probably safe to assume that the owner of that car could afford to shop elsewhere.

I’m a sports fanatic, and I’m definitely not ashamed of it. I know plenty of people who think that sports don’t matter, but to me, being a sports fan means unpredictable entertainment is always just a game away.

And if there’s something that makes me a unique sports fan, it’s probably my tendency to over think every aspect of every sport I care about. Lately, something has caught my attention. I’m always trying to take mental note of whether fans say a team’s name when talking about them, or “we.”

Let me make this more clear. There are two real groups here.

1. Use the team’s name or say “they.” Example: The Browns are going to need to get some key players back from injury to contend. They aren’t deep enough at wide receiver to win with Braylon Edwards and Josh Cribbs injured.

2. Say “we” when referring to the team. Example: We have to stop the run against Dallas to have a chance to win.

So what determines whether fans say “we” or not? Well, in part, I think it is just a habit that’s developed at some point and is difficult to change. There are many fans who would never say “we” because they’ve never been a member of the Cleveland Browns, for example. But for others, myself for example, saying “we” just feels most comfortable.

In essence, saying “we” is showing that you as a fan identify with the team. You know you aren’t actual on the roster and in the locker room, but you are emotionally invested in the team, and sometimes financially invested depending on whether or not you attend games.

Maybe one of the more interesting observations about this “we” or “they” phenomenon is that there is a shift depending on the success of the team. I mean a short term success or failure, not necessarily saying that a habitually terrible team cannot be identified with. When a team is doing well, fans seem more likely to say “we.” I don’t have any data to support this, but I have hours of sports fan observation, mentally documented.

If the Cleveland Indians are playing well, and Indians fan is likely to say, “Yep, we’re just on a roll right now. We really are riding the success of the starting pitching.” But talk to that same fan during an Indians 3-game losing streak and you might hear, “They just can’t get any big hits with runners in scoring position. They need to sign a real hitter this off-season.”

So if you are a team, and you’re my team, and you’re doing well, then we can be seen together in sentences. But if you are someone else’s team, or you’re my team and you’re struggling, then you have become just one of them.

This reminds me of a conference paper I co-authored with Sam Bradley, Wendy Maxian and Monica Baker (click here to read). The paper explored the semantic structure of brands. One of the most striking findings was that participants’ attitudes towards brands were strongly correlated with participants’ perceptions that the brands were like them. So if the brand was like the participant, the participant like, or even loved, the brand.

How is this similar to the sports team identification topic? How is it different? You tell me. I’m running low on thoughts and I just got Season 4 of Entourage on DVD.

And does the “we” issue only apply to team sports? Does a Rafael Nadal fan say, “we looked pretty good at Wimbeldon?” I don’t think so.

As all 5 of our faithful readers may have noticed, Billy does not blog much any more. Because of this fact, there have been plenty of rumors flying around about the cause for Billy’s blog absence. I’d like to take a moment to address these rumors here, because full disclosure is important.

Rumor 1: “I heard Billy has fallen so deeply in love with reading that he now considers writing a waste of his time.”

This is completely false. Billy understands that reading and writing go hand in hand like peanut butter and jelly.

Rumor 2: “I read on this one message board that Billy has started a Forrest Gump-esque jog across the country, coast to coast.”

Again, this is false.

Rumor 3: “Billy no longer believes in the Internet.”

Don’t believe the hype.

Rumor 4: “Billy’s too busy for blogging now that he’s a walk-on linebacker at OSU.”

He’s very busy, this is true. But the thought of Billy tackling anyone is strictly laughable.

Rumor 5: “Billy’s indoor mountain biking, again.”

I hope not.

This is all the information we can give you at this time. We may hold a conference call next week to deal with any further concerns. Thank you.

After over a year and some months of negotiating, a painfully long time to wait for a sports fanatic like me, Big Ten Network and Time Warner Cable have finally reached an agreement. They will finally play nice so we can all watch some great programming.

http://www.bigtennetwork.com/corporate/Time-Warner-Cable-Statement.asp

Time Warner Cable and the Big Ten Network announced today that they have reached an agreement-in-principle on terms of carriage for the Big Ten Network and its high-definition and video-on-demand programming on Time Warner Cable’s line-ups throughout the Big Ten territory, including Ohio and Wisconsin. The pending agreement will ensure that Time Warner Cable’s customers across these Big Ten states will have access to this Saturday’s Big Ten college football season openers and all future Big Ten Network programming on an expanded basic level of service.

When Big Ten Network, I was initially frustrated that the creation of a new channel would force me, a TWC customer, to miss a few Buckeyes games. Well, I wouldn’t really miss the games, but I had to head out to a bar.

Then I had the chance to watch some Big Ten Network programming from my parents house, who have Massillon Cable. I loved it. I found myself watching sports I probably never thought I’d watch. And I’ve heard the same thing from others.

So then I was frustrated that TWC wouldn’t find a way to get a deal done. But probably over the last 8 months, I’ve just decided that both sides of this mess were greedy. I don’t think either side was unreasonable, and I don’t think either side was helpful. Neither wanted to be taken advantage of and I feared a deal would never get done. I especially felt that a deal was far off when OSU athletic director Gene Smith made a statement last week suggesting that Buckeyes fans leave TWC for a provider carrying BTN.

Fortunately for sports fans, a deal is now done. It will be interesting to watch and see how many other major college sports conferences create their own channels now so as to take some of the money away from ESPN and their many channels.

We’ve  been thinking a lot about the academic side of what we do. Yes, academic. We all understand there is a great deal of understanding needed in communication, in fact in many ways it’s the most important component of what we do. Typically all the credit goes to what is called the creative and the people who do this work, deserve credit, the other and perhaps more important side of what we do is understanding.

When it comes to understanding, where does one start. Where is understanding created. Among other places one might name, a center for understanding exists at colleges and universities. Yet, we as an industry seek only “creative” from this source. The more papers I read that come out of the research departments of the great universities in the world, the greater appreciation I gain for the pure academic pursuit. There testing is superb and documented. It is not convoluted by time, budget and other outside influences. It answers singular questions and is devoted to accuracy.

It is only logical that the colleges and universities are great centers for learning and understanding yet the advertising community seems disconnected from this resource. Odd. Why isn’t there a stronger connection between the advertising communities curiosity and curiosity found in universities?

One of the people I get to work with is trying to do something about that. He is connecting with univerisity professors to forward the cause. In fact he went to a conference on advertising research and he was the only one in the group that was not from an educational institution. He was surprised  by how he was sought out. This group of researchers and educators can help us answer the questions that advertising needs to be effective.

It would be intriguing if agencies grouped together and created some kind of outreach to the researchers in colleges and univeristies and moved the discipline ahead. Seems like it might make all of us better. Anyone up for it?

Saul Williams is a poet and hip-hop artist from New York, and I never really got into his music until sometime last year. Now I’ve come to respect and enjoy what he has to say. If you are looking for something different to listen to, pick up a Saul Williams album. I suggest his 2004 self-titled release Saul Williams.

In the Spring of this year, Nike (Wieden & Kennedy, Portland) launched the My Better campaign. I was instantly enthused (name of a Blink 182 song I still overuse in sentences) by the commercials for this campaign. One thing that really jumped out at me was Saul Williams song “List of Demands.” I was a bit surprised that he gave permission for the use of his music by Nike, but I was glad that he did because the energy felt right for the ad. See the commercial here. -> http://creativity-online.com/work/view?seed=DwYZCdj9

Then, about 2 weeks ago I received an email titled “Your Summer Reading…” from email_list@saulwilliams.com. It’s a long email, but I’m going to copy and paste part of it here:

I received a lot of questions from some about why I would allow my song ‘List of Demands’ to be used in a Nike campaign. Ironically, half of the people now reading this post never heard of me until that commercial aired. That, indeed, was one of my reasons for allowing it. A small circle of poets and conscious do-gooders are not enough to effect the change necessary to shift our planet in peril. We must enlist people from all walks of life, people not accustomed to questioning the norm, people who may simply want to dance uninterrupted without message or slogan. I see no glory in ‘preaching to the converted’.

Furthermore, I believe fully in the power of music and have branded my work with it’s own conscientious stamp and stomp of attitude fueled to steal the show in the face of the nonsensical. Quite simply, it was clear to me that people would not be rushing to the store to buy Nikes after seeing that commercial, but rather rushing to youtube or itunes to hear or download the song. I even imagined those who would be rushing to blogs to question how I could allow this to happen and the subsequent discussion of the ethical treatment of factory workers and how new minds would be informed and enlisted in the struggle for ethical change.

I am so impressed. This is what authenticity is all about. Saul Williams as an artist doesn’t need to answer to anyone, but he wanted to make sure he was on the same page as his fans. This is a great example of how the Internet can be quickly utilized as a tool for displaying authenticity and connecting to fans.

(Tim enters virtual room and smiles awkwardly at the b&a blog.)

Blog: Hey.

Tim: Hey.

(Seconds of silence pass that feel like an eternity.)

Blog: So… where have you…

Tim: OK blog. Listen. I’ve been busy lately.

Blog: Busy? Too busy for me?

Tim: Yes. Too busy for you.

Blog: Things have changed around here Tim.

Tim: I don’t understand. I was just really busy with work and watching the Olympics. Did you hear about Michael Phelps?

(Tim attempts to change the subject, unsuccessfully.)

Blog: You haven’t been coming around lately. Where’s Holly been? Where’s Billy? I haven’t seen Jack in ages. Look, you stopped posting, and people stopped visiting. I’ve been awfully lonely around here lately, man.

Tim: Well I’ve had every intention to blog. I’ve been thinking about this great lettter Saul Williams sent his email list of listeners, the pro’s and con’s of tag clouds, and I’ve been thinking alot about brand personality.

Blog: You’re all talk, no type.

Tim: Can we try again? Start over? I’ll be a better blogger. I’ll be more accountable.

(Blog embraces Tim in a hug.)

Remember this commercial from the 90’s?

When this ad came out the slogan “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” was the punch line of every 5th grader across the country. Sure, the brand received more publicity than the terrible ad would have ever gotten on its own. But, I doubt this was the type of publicity Life Alert was hoping for.

I started thinking about all this when I heard a new Life Alert radio ad this week on XM. It started with, “from the company with the famous slogan I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” I was pretty shocked that almost 20 years later, Life Alert is still clinging to the joke in order to sell some out-of-date technology. I’m not sure humor can work when selling a product that is all about saving lives. Regardless, I still laugh when I watch this commercial.

Any other good examples of unintentional humor in advertising. Has it ever worked?

You might want to file this post under “Tim doesn’t have a personal blog, but he felt compelled to write this somewhere.” With that being said, I was just reading a fascinating story on CNN.com about a Qantas jet that was flying from Hong Kong to Melbourne, 29,000 feet up, when a giant hole appeared in the fuselage. I was going to say a hole “presented itself” but “appeared” does seem to be the correct term. Regardless, the fascinating part is that the pilot was able to bring the plane down for a safe landing in the Philippines.

Incredible story. But then I saw this line:

Manila International Airport Authority spokesman Octavio Lina said there were no injuries, but some of the 345 passengers vomited after disembarking, AP reported.

Maybe I’m just a numbers kind of guy, but doesn’t anybody else want to know how many of the 345 vomited? It seems so purposely cryptic. “Some of the 345″ tells me nothing. Perhaps a percentage would be appropriate. Did 13.6% of the passengers become ill once safely on the ground? Give me the details or don’t give me the info at all. OK. So I’m over exaggerating, but you get the idea, I think.

The current Old Spice commercials featuring Doogie Howser as “a former make-believe doctor on TV” are hilarious. Possibly even better than the Will Ferrell versions. Oh no she didn’t. Oh yes, I did.