the baddest ass price spot i’ve ever seen

It’s a strange time…most economic indicators are solid, including GDP growth and a low unemployment rate, yet we’re in the middle of a mark-to-market regulation-caused investment bank meltdown, the media has been running the storyline of recession for almost a year and consumer confidence is low.

Everyone is expecting the worst.

So how do you sell stuff, especially luxury items and stuff that people don’t need, in an environment like this, an environment where people are retrenching and watching what they spend?

Harley-Davidson, whose motorcycles are primarily indulgence purchases by middle aged white dudes if my anecdotal evidence can be trusted, has a new spot out that shows how to sell value in a tough economy…and how to do it creatively, thanks to agency Carmichael Lynch:

It certainly fits the renegade feel of the brand and is the sort of spot that, should you be the type of person into thrash metal, powerlifting and other testosterone-overdrive activities, you might pass on (or at least tell your friends about)…yet the whole concept is based around a value proposition and the end line, the strangely powerful “less than $18 per pound” talks pure price.

When was the last time a price spot made an emotional connection with the target?

questionable rumor, unquestionable effect

There is something deliciously Gawker-esque about a gossip site like Agency Spy…it’s a chance to voyeuristically watch the dirty laundry of other agencies aired out publicly while laughing at their misfortune. It’s schadenfreude in binary code. It’s a whole lot of fun right up until your agency is the one under the microscope.

Being a Minneapolitan, I take great interest in the agencies in town so my interest was piqued when I saw two posts yesterday about Carmichael Lynch.

I was disappointed to see that the posts were about the possible loss of the Harley-Davidson account…apparently, someone took seriously the same, years-old rumors about the business. Rumors like that dog any agency with a desirable legacy client, but they’re not news.

I was even more disappointed when a certain personal relation at the agency contacted me to ask if it was true…and if he should be worried about his job.

Before you’re confronted with the personal reality of a real person worried about job security because of something they read on a gossip site online, it just doesn’t seem real. Posts based on anonymous, unverifiable tips seem reasonable and harmless. The whole thing seems like a joke.

Even, sometimes, it seems like fodder for a third post (must be a slow news day).

Based on my experience receiving these anonymous tips, the news in today’s “Carmichael is Shi-Tay” post comes from one of those…there is just enough that I have been able to verify as correct (Marcus Fischer wasn’t promoted and is now at Space150) mixed with just enough that I can verify as incorrect (Carmichael Lynch Spong has Sherwin-Williams for PR, and that part of the account isn’t in review) to lead me to believe that the tipster is not exactly a recent Carmichael Lynch employee…though that doesn’t stop them from being disgruntled.

Of course, who am I to disdain the disgruntled or to look askance at bloggers who might run a story on an anonymous tip?

That said, never before had I realized just how far-reaching and strangely important blogs had become, at least in tightly-focused-on-itself agency world. Never before had I realized just how much stock real people put into posts by bloggers like me (well, better than me) who were just doing this on our own, sitting at a computer and writing about advertising.

I don’t know what the real situation is at Carmichael Lynch, though I would take the Harley “news” with a hefty grain of salt, but I do know that one angry employee with an axe to grind can have an outsized, internet-spread, fear/anger/sadness-inducing impact on a lot good people who are just trying to do their job and get along…including people you (and I) may know.

Laughing at the misfortune of another agency suddenly got a whole lot less fun.

congrats to carmichael lynch

The fact thatCarmichael Lynch won the Subaru account without a pitch is not only a huge win for them, but a win for good guys who do good work – and that should be applauded.

Subaru has made the right choice. Carmichael Lynch is chock full of guys with experience on Porsche and BMW and, with Colle + McVoy, is one of the Minneapolis shops I tip for upcoming serious creative goodness (since they were damn good to begin with and have only become stronger with some of the ex-Fallon talent they’ve picked up).

To celebrate their win, it’s CL time at the Biz and, though it’s a little old, it’s still good:

The knives will be out if their Subaru work falls short.