 |
 |
 |
           |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
The TV Shoot, The Spoiled Brat, And A Painful Lesson
It was two days before our shoot. I was in the office with the client going over the story boards and filling him in on all the details for his latest television campaign. At that time, with my agency being in its infancy stage, we were taking in any client we could, which is why I was seated across from the "Redneck Crazy Man" as I liked to refer to him. He owned a string of low end rental car shops and his only redeeming quality was that he was a quick pay. For this particular shoot, my script involved an NBA star and a good looking young boy I had cast through a local talent agency. The boy had been in a few commercials and he knew how to take direction which is crucial when it comes to working with children. As I was going over the script, the client stopped me mid-sentence, put a picture of a boy in front of me and said, "What ya think about this kid?" Not sure what he had up his sleeve this time, I looked at the picture of the 10 year old boy. "He's cute, why?" I asked. "Cause he's gonna be in the commercials." He said deadpan. "But I've already cast a boy through the talent agency who's perfect! He's coming in tomorrow to do the radio spot and he's contracted to do the TV shoot the following day." I replied. "Don't care". He said. "This here boy is my grandson and if he isn't in the commercials there ain't going to be any commercials." I looked at the picture again and looked back at my redneck crazy man client and shrugged. How bad could he be? I was about to find out. The next day at our recording studio the "cute" grandson I'll call Jake in this article to protect all concerned, came in with his mother to do the radio commercials I had originally scheduled with the professional child actor. I gave Jake the script and because he had never been near a microphone, I began to coach him as to how close he should get to it, how to be careful about pronunciation, etc. "Let's try a few lines" I said, and that's when the fun began. Jake I quickly learned, had speech problems. The client's name had a couple of "R"s in it and Jake pronounced "R"s like "L"s making the name of his granddad's car rental company sound like a Lithuanian side dish. In addition, he would put a "th" on all words containing an "S". No matter how many takes he did, the copy came out sounding like a foreign language. Jake grew restless and complained to his mom that he was bored and wanted to go home. And after a couple of hours of futility I ended up salvaging what I could and hoped the listeners were bilingual. The following day Jake showed up (late) with his mom for the television shoot. Our crew had already been there several hours setting up for our first scene while the NBA star was in makeup. Jake looking bored, grabbed a basketball and started bouncing it on the court right next to one of the sound engineer's high end reel to reel tape machines. "Be careful bouncing that ball so close to that machine." I told him. "That is a very expensive piece of equipment." "Who cares?" He replied deadpan. "If it breaks, my grandfather will pay for it." That's when I knew we were in for a long day. As I tried to get him to focus on the lines he was to deliver (in that special foreign language of his) his eyes went right to the craft services. "Donuts!" he cried as he dropped the ball right on the tape machine and began stuffing his face. I had rewritten most of the lines trying carefully to edit out any "R" words but the name of the company couldn't be avoided. When he was not causing mischief or complaining to his mom that he was bored, Jake was hungry or he was tired, sprawling around on the basketball court while I tried diplomatically to get him back in front of the camera. At one point I found him trying to flirt with some of the female crew telling them that when his grandfather "kicked" this would all be his. As I steered him into makeup, the makeup artist said, "My, what cute little boy!" "I'll get back to you at the end of the day to see if you have reassessed that opinion" I whispered to her. The grandson was not only confrontational and rude to the crew but also to the NBA star as well who looked like he wanted to crush the little runt a few times. The rest of the shoot went as smoothly and after about 10 hours of work, I prayed we had enough film to choose from to finish the :30 second spot. The makeup artist came up to me later in the day and when I asked her if she still considered the boy cute, I seem to remember her response including the word "strangulation". What was the lesson in all this? Well despite what you have heard, the client isn't always right. In fact, sometimes the client is dead wrong. It all depends on your relationship and chemistry as to how you handle a difficult situation such as this. Don't be afraid to assert yourself in showing the client what's best for his advertising and marketing plan for it will benefit both of you in the long run. Just as he is an expert in his business, so too are you in yours. And if you are ever in a situation such as the one I've just described, the "grin and bare it" approach may be your only option! Hal Eisenberg is an award winning copywriter, voice over talent and producer, as well as owner of The Eisenberg Agency, a full service advertising agency specializing in creative ads that get results. Visit his web site at http://www.eisenbergagency.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Advertising - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Print Your Marketing Postcards For A Penny, Address Them For Free, and Automate the Whole Process This article will show you how to cut your printing costs to a penny and have your postcards addressed for free without doing it all yourself, reducing the time you invest in your mailing to almost nothing.So, you have a list of hot prospects in hand; you need a way to get your marketing message in front of them with the hope that a reasonable percentage will call you. Bad Seduction - Advertising Techniques That Dont Work I just read some advertising suggestions on an Internet marketing site that are beyond annoying. They are flat-out bad advice. Advertising That Annoys: The Real Story Critics conclude that entertaining or "creative" commercials sell better than those that are bland. But liking the commercial may not really be that important in the scheme of things. Graphical LED Display Graphical LED Displays utilize high-resolution graphics and video to transmit the information. You will find them sited in world's great cosmopolitan cities. Moving Message Board Moving message boards are used in the areas where continuous announcements, or other information are need to be displayed in to either indoor or outdoor. Used most widely in churches, schools, airports, other transport stations, banks, production and administration department of organization as marquee information billboards. Using Flyers to Advertise Your Online Business Using flyers is one commonly overlooked method of advertising offline. Flyers are extremely easy to create. The Seven Second Race: How to Draw Attention Your Ad You've decided to launch your advertising campaign but you have no idea what would inspire others to buy from you. Or maybe you've already run some ads to no avail. Advertising Copy: What's Really Important? You labor long and hard trying to create the perfect advertising piece but only about 20% of your copy is going to get read. The rest will simply be scanned. God Bless The Refrigerator Magnet! Ah, my very favorite promotional product of all, the refrigerator magnet. They are my favorite, because they are so extremely inexpensive, and extremely effective in getting your company name seen in countless locations. Juice - Scam of the Decade or Opportunity of the Century If you are an ardent web surfer and MLMer like I am, then I am sure you would have seen the sales pitch "Give away free broadband and earn £27 GBP each time". Depending on which side of the fence you are, this product is either God's gift to freebies enthusiasts, MLMers and all paying ISP subscribers or it is the biggest scam yet, bar none. Electronic Display Signs Electronic display signs are used nowadays in great extent to display important information instantly all over the world, which uses LED technology, which stands for light- emitting diodes. These are widely used in the worlds of commerce, government and even non-profit organizations. Driving Customers to You - Your Car as a Marketing Vehicle You can turn your vehicle into a rolling advertisement. Costs start at just a few dollars, and you can put your business name, slogan, phone number and web site URL in front of thousands of potential customers while you are driving along the freeway, stuck in traffic or even while you are parked. Harness the Power of Direct Marketing - More Small Business Power Tools One of the most powerful tools available to small businesses is direct mail. By this I don't mean electronic, Internet-based mail, but the old-fashioned kind that requires a stamp and a trip to the post office. Ads Dont Sell - People Do ! More about advertising by BIG Mike McDanielAdvertising is not a substitute for good sales technique and superb customer service. Inserting an ad in a handy newspaper to call attention to a line of goods will not sell those goods unless you can back it up with intelligent, well directed sales efforts in the store. If You're Tired Of Adverts That Don't Work And Letters That Don't Sell, Then You Must Read This Over the 32 years I've been involved in sales, marketing and management, I've discovered that there are two fatal marketing mistakes made by business owners. They are?· Lack of focus· Lack of implementationThere's certainly no shortage of ideas and information - the world is full of it - but what are you doing with it all? Let's do a quick reality check here and now:· How frequently do you get in touch with your customers?· How far up your hierarchy of buyers do you go?· What actions are you taking to make next week, next month or next year better?Pick one thing you've always meant to do and do it tomorrow to start marketing your business more effectively. Promote yourself on radio for free Unless you have become extremely popular in your personal or business name, you likely need all of the marketing and promotion you can get. Now, you may say, of course, I'm aware of this, but who has the money? This a good and fair question. Business Ideas: 5 Uncommon Ways To Generate More Online Business Sometimes, it is not an obvious business idea that will make you more money.It may be what is not so obvious, which most people never think of that may make you money. Your Eye Catching Publicity Flyer Your website is done, your business cards have been delivered, and your brochure has received accolades. In the promoting department you have everything you need, right? Well, there is one item you lack and by having this item in your arsenal it can be a dealmaker for you. Constructing Business Advertisements What many may consider the most important part of advertising is writing an effective ad. The information provided in a classified ad may be the deciding factor if it is successful or a, "bomb". Advertising, Public Relations, Newsletters, and Newsletters for Your Small Business If you own a small business you should consider ways to promote yourself through public relations to compliment you advertising regiment and keeping your name out in the public and in front of your best customers. There are many ways to keep yourself visible on top of your typical advertising choices.
|
 |