The Kmiec Ramblings

Tag Archive: Almost Famous

It’s What You Leave Out

Written on May 15, 2011 by adamkmiec in Marketing & Advertising

In my all time favorite movie, Almost Famous, there’s a key scene where Russel and William are talking about “the buzz” that’s generated from music and why Russel is in love with “music.” As he describes, as written by Cameron Crowe:

But… it’s not what you put in, is it?
It’s what you leave out. Listen to… listen to Marvin Gaye…
A song like “What’s Going On.” That single “woo” at the end of the second verse – you know that woo – that single “woo.”

That’s what you remember. The silly things, the little things… there’s only one, and it makes the song.
It’s what you leave out. That’s rock and roll.

Take a walk with me for just a second…isn’t that the same thing you could say about a great campaign? It’s not what you put in, it’s what you leave out. How many times have you seen a campaign so stuffed with touch-points, collateral, key benefits and reasons to believe that the message…the one element so critical to the campaign, gets lost. And why is that message so critical? Because, the message (and I don’t just mean the copy) is what creates the emotional connection. The message needs to be simple. It needs to be palatable. It needs to be focused.

This is the reason Apple’s ads connect so well with consumers.

Apple fan or not, there’s no denying the power of that ad. The new “add-on” these days is social media. The first thing everyone wants to do is plug-in or bolt-on social media to a campaign. And why not? It’s easy to do and “everyone” is doing it. It’s all the rage, as the kids say! But, before you start adding Facebook, twitter, youTube, Posterous and all the other options out there to your campaign, make sure it’s going to add to the campaign, not take away from it. Sometimes, you might just find, if you want to connect, if you want the buzz, you’re better off leaving it out.

Tags: Almost Famous, Apple, Movie

We Always Chase The Unknown

Written on December 30, 2009 by adamkmiec in Marketing & Advertising

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As I’ve mentioned often, Almost Famous, is probably my all time favorite movie. The writing, casting, acting, music, story, etc. are all top notch. Unfortunately, hollywood didn’t let Cameron Crowe show the his version of the movie in theaters. Thankfully, he opted to release a director’s cut version on DVD. While there aren’t a great deal of major changes, the subtle nuances make the movie so much better. But, you’ll have to wait till nearly the end of the movie for the best scene that was added back into the movie. Right after the band is notified that William’s story for Rolling Stone paints them as a bunch of amateurs struggling with their own success, Jimmy Fallon’s character explains to the band that Russel must deny the story…in denying the story he has to lie.

As Jimmy Fallon explains, the reason he needs to dismiss the story is so the band can hold on to their mystique. It’s the mystique that keeps the fans interested. It’s the ambiguity and the unknown that makes them interesting, marketable, and will ultimately make them rich, famous, and successful.

Too often we’re not content with what we have, because the allure of the unknown and the alternative is so seductive. Think about the last time a recruiter sent you an email or called you about a job. Did you automatically say no? Of course not. You’d be silly not to at least listen to the opportunity. Even if you are perfectly content in your current job, you’ll always take the call and listen to what the voice on the other end of the phone is saying. Why? Because…you already know what you have, but what you don’t know is what you might be missing out on.

Oh yes, we love the known. Hey, like the old saying goes…the grass is always greener on the other side. But, as someone who’s speaking from experience, I can tell you, it’s not always greener or better. Frankly, sometimes it rather sucks. Yet, despite the number of times I’ve been burned by the allure of the unknown, I always remain open to it. Why? Because, you never know. You simply never know when the unknown will be better than what you already have.

I’m finding myself thinking a lot about the unknown lately. Not with regards to my job though. For the first time in a long time, I’m completely closed off to the idea of another opportunity. Not since I was at Fallon, have I found myself in a role where I literally look forward to coming into the office. The thinking I’ve been doing is much broader and more centered on everything else not named J-O-B. I’m certainly too young for a mid-life crisis, but I’m definitely old enough to realize that you don’t get too many chances to shake things up and still have enough time to fix it, if you’ve chosen poorly.

2010 is going to be a hell of a year. It’s going to be a year full of the unknown. And I plan on chasing it.

Tags: Advice, Almost Famous, Movie, Quotes, Video, YouTube

ReThinking Mixing Friends And Business – Part I

Written on September 6, 2009 by adamkmiec in Marketing & Advertising, Misc.

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This is going to be the first of a three part set of posts on ReThinking Mixing Friends And Business.

If you’ve been reading this blog long enough, you know I have a great appreciation and love for the movie, “Almost Famous.” It’s definitely one of my all-time favorite movies because not only is it entertaining, but it brings to light so many life lessons. One of those life lessons is the intersection of friends with business. Lester Bangs warns William Miller about the dangers of becoming friends of the band. His rationale is that it would hurt his ability to do his job well. His job is to write the truth about what he sees and what he thinks about the band. If you become friends with the band, can you really crucify them?

By the end of the movie, William is at a crossroads. He owes his completed article to Rolling Stone magazine, but is struggling with how to write it because he knows that the truth is harsh and Stillwater (the band) may not recover from such brutal honesty.

While at this crossroads William calls Lester for advice and the following is shared:

Aw, man. You made friends with them! See, friendship is the booze they feed you. They want you to get drunk on feeling like you belong.

That line is followed up with this gem:

My advice to you. I know you think those guys are your friends. You want to be a true friend to them? Be honest and unmerciful.

William, with amazing journalistic integrity unleashes the brutal truth in his article for Rolling Stone. During the fact checking process the band is blown away by what he’s written. It’s harsh, honest, and uncomfortable to say the least. The reason their shell shocked is because as Jeff states:

He was supposed to be our friend.

Talk about a life lesson and a half.

Our industry is filled with chances to be honest, authentic, and genuine. But, too often we pass on those chances. I’ve been overly critical of so-called professional analysts like soon to be former Forrester Social Media analyst Jeremiah Owyang. An analyst is supposed to dig in to a situation and honestly assess it. These analysts, with rare exception never provide the brutal honest truth. They avoid controversy and critique like it was the plague. In short, they don’t do the job they’re being paid to do.

I tend to believe the reason they don’t provide an honest assessment of company, person, or situation is that it’s not to their personal benefit. They need to maintain these friendships and connections for future gain. They need to keep things more friendship focused than business focused. You need only look at the number of people leaving analyst firms to join a company they’ve previously “analyzed” to see what I mean.

The other analogous situation where the role of analyst lacks objectivity due to friendships is with sports commentary. Have you watched Sports Center lately? There’s not reporting or analysis taking place, save for Bill Simmons. It’s clear that traditional journalists like Chris Berman would rather remain chummy with athletes than honestly critique them. It’s clear that former athletes like Mike Golic would rather stay neutral than provide the unique type of insight and evaluation only a former athlete can bring to the table. There’s no real critique taking place. There’s no real analysis. The depth they’re providing is about as shallow as Paris Hilton. Yes, we’re talking paper thin.

Does this surprise you? It shouldn’t. If you’re an athlete, would you want to grant an interview to a hard hitting reporter or analyst who might make you look bad? Of course not. But, to the reporter who provides softballs, you’ll grant access all day long. The general public isn’t as demanding as I am. They can’t tell the difference between true reporting and a surface level puff piece. If your audience can’t tell the difference and your subject matter will shun you if you are overly critical, it becomes a means of self preservation to not be critical, hard hitting, or controversial.

It’s tough to mix business and friendship. It’s not easy. It shouldn’t be. If it were that easy you probably aren’t really friends in the first place. Parts II and III will be up later this week. Stay tuned.

Tags: Almost Famous, Analysts, Forrester, Friendship, Movies, Social Media

5 Things Bugging Me Right Now

Written on August 16, 2009 by adamkmiec in Misc.

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I’m limiting this list of things that bug me to only 10. I could probably create a list that goes upward of 100.

Sites that have content being indexed by Google, but then require you to join or login to view the content. This is just a horrible user experience. I search for something. I see a link with some descriptor copy that appears to be exactly what I want – so I click on it. Only 1 problem though, instead of seeing the content I was hoping to see, I get a login/register page. The Wall Street Journal, Consumer Reports, and The New York Times are notorious for this.
Re-touching. I’ve long said, I think Ansel Adams was a crappy photographer and an amazing darkroom magician. He didn’t make his magic behind the camera, he made it in the dark room. With the recent turmoil over the Kelly Clarkson “Self” cover, this issue is back in the news. As a more than amateur photographer, I have a big problem with people taking photos, Photoshopping the hell out of them and then passing them off as originals. That’s not very transparent is it?
Companies adding a bunch of social networking icons to the footer or the header is not the answer to creating a social site. Don’t get me wrong, I think adding those icons is the first step. Not only does is help with SEO, but it allows you to add richer content without changing your sites infrastructure. But, right now too many companies think that just adding those icons somehow somehow solves all of their social “media” needs.
Analysts that only focus on providing “positive” commentary and clearly avoiding constructive criticism. I get the feeling a lot of analysts are struggling with how to be honest about their “friends.” There’s a great scene in the movie “Almost Famous” where Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character (Lester Bangs) offers some advice to Patrick Fugit’s character (William Miller) about how to write a great column. The advice is simple, “Be honest and unmerciful.” I think a great number of analysts, especially the Forrester ones could learn something from that simple line.
We need universal FREE wiFi. If not free, close to it. Let’s agree that innovation is a critical component to growth. Let’s agree that having the right tools helps you innovate faster. Let’s agree that this country is falling dramatically behind our nations when it comes to innovation. Let’s also agree that the internet for a variety of reason propels innovation and thinking forward. If we can agree on all of the above, then how does it make sense that we are charging more and more for a sub-standard infrastructure. If you think I’m crazy, just check out this article or this information about South Korea’s internet access. If we want great ideas to come from this country, we need to rethink our approach to propelling those ideas forward.

Thanks for listening. Had to get that out of my system.

Tags: Almost Famous, Forrester, Google, Innovation, New York Times, Photography, Wall Street Journal