http://dennyhatch.blogspot.com/2023/03/184-ceos-tv-spots.html
#184 Blog Post – Wednesday, 29 March 2024
Posted by Denny Hatch
Corporate CEOs Who Became Famous
On TV For Pitching Their Own Products
The TV was on the other day and suddenly I was smacked in the chops with a 60-second razzle-dazzle, highest of hi-tech ads for the 2023 “Limited Edition” Chrysler 300C. Pounding beats of music… dizzying hocus-pocus… giant buzzwords cooked up by a bunch of techies.
Have a look at this 60-second sucker:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKe1TQq7GZ0
• Mind-bending? Yes.
• Was I persuaded the 300C Chrysler is so deliciously
desirable and affordable that I itch to take it for a test drive? Absolutely not.
•
This TV spot is the product of techies — non-marketers showing off their electronic
wizardry without one jot of empathy or emotion.
Your Geezer Blogger Recalled Lee Iacocca's
Passionate Message to Me About Chrysler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IGp1nM01hI
Lee Iacocca was president and CEO of Chrysler from 1978 and chairman from 1979, until his retirement at the end of 1992. I felt he was looking me straight in the eye talking directly to me about the benefits and guarantees of excellence and satisfaction.
This is personal Lee-to-me direct marketing — an old fashioned letter in the form of a TV ad.
I Went on a YouTube Search to Find Famous
Spokespersons Who Loved Touting Their Products.
Some were already household names — Oprah, Martha Stewart and Bill Gates.
Others became famous by being featured on TV ad spots — chicken farmer Frank Purdue and obscure businessman Victor Kiam.
What All these Celebs Had in Common.
They flat-out believed in their products. Their overflowing enthusiasm and passion for what they were selling is infectious. Coming from their own lips is far more powerful than anything a hired copywriter and actors out of central casting could come up with.
Here was a favorite from my early days of TV watching, a CEO spokesman discovered
by advertising legend David Ogilvy.
In 1947 Commander Edward Whitehead was an economic advisor to Sir Stafford Cripps (then Chancellor of the Exchequer), working on training and productivity in British industry. He joined Schweppes in 1950, being responsible for foreign expansion. In 1953, he was made president of Schweppes American operations. In those early years the commander caught the eye of legendary adman David Ogilvy who was creating advertising for Schweppes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-O0aMoVMG0
This spot is a hoot — a send-up that not only amuses the individual viewer but also pounds home the desirability of “Schweppes bubbly effervescence.”
Ya Want Laffs? Have a Few with Martha Stewart.
It’s an old saw — axiomatic — that humor doesn’t sell. “People don’t buy from clowns,” proclaimed David Ogilvy. Oh yeah? Have a look at this gem by Martha Stewart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueEKYyzMdKA
“Martha Stewart is channeling her inner psychopath in a gory Halloween video spot for canned water company Liquid Death, created to promote the brand's 'Dismembered Moments' candle. The candle, which was created in partnership with Stewart, resembles a dismembered hand clutching a can of Liquid Death.” —thedrum.com
Meet Chicken Farmer Frank
Purdue Who
Became a Legend from
His Intense TV Spots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z789aLNfXo&t=45s
How Fame Came to Victor Kiam with his TV Ads.
Hardly anybody knew of Victor Kiam, one-time owner of the New England Patriots. He became immediately famous when he bought Remington Products. Kiam, a cheapskate who always flew coach (“I arrive at the same time as everybody else on board.”) opted to save money by starring in his own highly believable TV spots. The iconic line that made him known nationwide: “I liked the shaver so much I bought the company.” It’s the ultimate testimonial!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf22bddvLnc
A Powerful Confession in Oprah Winfrey’s
First TV Commercial
for Weight Watchers.
In 2015, Oprah — in a desperate lifelong battle against obesity — became a minority shareholder in Weight Watchers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiVIsS6wSMY
All you can say is… Wow! Laying bare her deeply personal problem… willing to show her worst, downtrodden self… and coming up with this extraordinary message of positivity and hope. I found it amazing.
Unlikely Commercials by Two of the Richest Men in the
History of Planet Earth: Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.
Bill Gates was a tall, skinny nerdy guy when he started out. But he had the magic combination of three elements: vision, genius and passion.
He changed how business in done and built one of the most valuable companies in the world (current market cap: $2.03 trillion dollars. ) In a rare TV spot, Gates’ passion pours out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYTD7Uy4lbs
The Most Unlikely Celeb TV Performer: Warren Buffett.
I
recently read a biography of Warren Buffet. His earliest ambition was to be
rich. His entire life and career has been spent in solitary, poring over the financials
found in annual reports of companies, discovering bargain prices in the numbers
and pouncing. “According to Forbes, Warren
Buffett’s net worth in March
2023 is $108.6 billion. He is currently the 5th richest person in
the world.”
“The Berkshire Hathaway CEO still resides in the five-bedroom home in central Omaha, Nebraska, Buffett purchased for $31,500 in 1958, which is about $329,505 in today’s dollars.” --Cheyenne Devon, CNBC.
In 1994, Buffett accumulated a 4.9 million shares stake in McDonald’s (where he picks up a take-out breakfast every morning.) Somehow, someone persuaded him to make a McDonald’s commercial. No passion. No excitement. Nice Midwestern grandpa stuff and boring as hell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FGa6N7fb8&t=19s
The
Bill & Warren Show:
Two
Buddies’ Ego Trip .
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are close friends. Their relationship has been called a bromance. In 2006 Buffett pledged 85% of his Berkshire fortune to the Gates Foundation. In 1997 Berkshire acquired Dairy Queen for $600 million.
Here’s a bit of silliness that I don’t understand. However, TV commercials cost a lot more than a junk mailing. These guys can afford it. Hey! Relax and enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQWkNXr2ujI&t=85s
Takeaways to Consider.
• TV spots are advertising’s big league. How big? A 30-second 2023 Super Bowl spot cost $7 million.
• Very few CEO’s have the requisite charisma — or passion — to lay themselves bare on TV and make profitable spots or commercials.
• The legendary Dick Hodgson wrote: "Of all the formats used in direct mail, none has more power to generate action than the letter."
• A letter is an intimate message from one writer whispering in ear of one reader. Me-to-you.
• I believe that TV spots — with their eye contact and quiet intensity — can be the modern equivalent of the direct mail letter. And take up a lot less of your time.
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Word count: 1002
Good afternoon, Denny!
ReplyDeleteAs you point out, it doesn't always work. I bought a Remington razor – largely on the basis of Kiam's spots – and thought its performance was lousy. Besides, did he really believe, or was that just acting instruction?
You cite Ogilvy several times. I remember this doggerel from him:
"If your client moans and cries, make his logo twice the size.
"If he should still prove refractory, add a picture of his factory.
"But only in the gravest cases should you show your clients' faces."
Best regards!
Tim Orr
Tim, Great hearing from you!
DeleteKiam was briefly a client. He had the Remington catalog, slews of great German knives—paring, carving, steak sets etc. I wrote and design two or three catalogs for him. Never met him. Worked with his catalog manager whose name — like everything else in my anecdotege these days. Remember well his catalog agency guy, Jerry Gaylord, lovely, fun guy. My real hero of those days was (and is) Ogilvy. And thank you, thank you for reminding me of "client moans and cries" poem. My tangential relationship to Remington was 1959 or 1960. I was in the Army serving overseas on Governor's Island in New York Harbor working in the PIO (Public Information Office) where I wrote press releases and did minimal PR. The legendary General Douglas MacArthur, USA Ret. was head honcho of Remington. He was admitted to Lenox Hill Hospital with prostate enlargement problem. I was sent into the hospital along with my co-PFC Calvin "Bud" Trillin to handle press inquiries. Trillin called this special duty the "wee-wee watch." When the general was discharged (from the hospital) with a presumably shrunk prostate we were gifted Remington shavers. I was a Gillette customer at the time and gave the razor away without trying it. But yeah, it couldn't compare to today's Philips Norelco. Do keep in touch!
Longtime subscriber David Amkraut gave me the green light to share with you his email to me. I'm always delighted when a reader agrees with me. Love it when a reader disagrees. Either way, it means folks are reading the blog posts.
ReplyDelete= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
David L. Amkraut
RE: Corporate CEOs Who Became Famous On TV
Yahoo/Archive
To:dennyhatch@yahoo.com
Wed, Mar 29 at 9:26 PM
Denny,
I couldn’t agree more about the ad for the Chrysler. That TV ad, with its split section cuts and jumps and changes of angle, gives me a headache. And what kind of image is it selling? A heavily tattoed man ? Graffiti, regarded by most people my age as vandalism? The only people being shown are young people, for what tries to be a high-end car? What a turn-off. And nothing about features or advantages?
As with a lot of other advertising, the main theme for the ad creator seems to be: “Look at me! I’m so clever! Give me an award for creativity!”
In flying, it is said the most dangerous words in aviation are “Watch this!” Isn’t the attitude the same as that of whoever was responsible for this ad?
Regards,
David Amkraut
David,
DeleteThanks for taking the time to comment. I grew up in the ‘40s 50’ when all cars looked different — wonderful designs. Who can forget the Studebaker which looked like it was coming when it was going and vice versa. And the giant Cadilacs with their great tail fins. The elegant four-door ragtop Lincoln Continental. The peppy little Ford and Merc convertibles.
Today all cars are variation of the teardrop design. And all look alike and are boring a hell.
Many years ago at a summer cookout I asked a neighbor — Bill Munro, head of marketing for Pepsi — why all cars looked alike.
He quipped: “Imitation is the sincerest form of collective stupidity.”