I confess. I have only caught snippets of AMC’s new show, “The Pitch,” a reality show where two advertising agencies compete for business within a one-week window. For my weekly entertainment, I’d rather enjoy the mock-pitches dreamed up by the writers of “Mad Men.” As a creative PR and social media agency, “The Pitch” cuts too close to the bone. I’m afraid my heart would race in empathy with the competitors throughout each episode.

The one snippet I did manage to catch was the end of the Subway pitch episode. I heard what I assumed to be the head creative guy bid farewell to the potential client by saying, “We had a blast working on this.” The potential client gamely replied (I’m paraphrasing) “We’re glad you had fun.”

I knew that agency was doomed. I was right.

So, after I watched all of this week’s addictive “Mad Men” content on amctv.com, curiosity got to me and I clicked on a segment featuring the CMO of Subway explaining “Why they won.”

What I learned from the two-minute web video was something that I thought I already knew but is worth keeping in mind, for those of us who spend a lot of time pitching. Even though the brand may ask for a big idea (they always ask for a big idea, right?) what they really want is a big relationship with you. They want to like your agency (consultancy, freelance singleton) a lot – and they need to like your really good idea enough that they can see its potential.

At the end of the pitch, it’s not necessarily the idea that will win you the business. A brand wants to buy your story about them — the way you tell it demonstrates  your potential as a business partner.

How to do that? Start by showing how much you understand them. Their business, their competitors, their customers, their pain points. Then, before even sharing your idea, use your insights to take them to a place that they haven’t been before, but that still feels familiar to them. Color too far outside the lines and you risk them thinking that you don’t “get” them.

During the pitch, they don’t know you, so be explicit. Explain how you figured things out. Preferably, you did more than web research and got out and talked to people for insight. Share what you’ve learned.

Save those big ideas for last. You’ve got a seat at their table, so they already know about your good work. Now that they’re meeting you when you’re supposed to be at your best, they’ll also think that you’re smart. And because you’ve laid the groundwork, the insights will ensure that your big creative idea will be good and maybe even great.

Then, at the end of the hour, thank them for giving you the opportunity to think about their brand. Not because it was a blast for you, but because their brand is now already yours, too, and you will give it the fullest measure of your time and attention in your journey to tell their story.

Let me know your pitching tricks, what you think about “The Pitch,” and whether I should watch the show instead of the clips on amctv.com!

As more and more brands  align themselves with causes, it’s important to do it right.  To achieve success, brands need to do more than simply place a logo on a package or ad.

Sherry Orel, CEO of Brand Connections, explains how companies should be taking social media, mobile and digital consumer behavior into consideration in their cause-marketing strategies.

Read this article in the “Causes” section of Media Post.  Do you agree with her insights?

As a working mother with a business of her own, I pay attention to stores about successful working mothers.  Recently, I read a profile of designer Tory Burch in The New York Times.  While there is no question about her business accomplishments, I noticed that the story she tells about her family life is similar to those of other successful women entrepreneurs.  Almost too much so; at least when it comes to regular family dinner.

These stories are painting the same picture; accomplished women with a perfectly balanced family life, including time to sit down with the family for a meal.  But are their stories true?

I wrote about why really successful working mothers may be skewing their own personal narratives in this week’s Huffington Post. Please let me know what your story is here or there.

Once again, Sherry Orel, CEO of Brand Connections, brings her expertise in product sampling and brand sponsorships to the readers of AdAge.

Just in time for the NYC marathon, she explains how to create race sponsorships that really get attention. Sherry’s writing is smart, insightful and just plain fun to read.

Read this article in the “CMO Strategy” section of AdAge and let me know what you think.

Enter the complainers, who say that the doll sends the message to young girls and tweens that tattoos are okay and to them, that’s wrong. Well, look around; lots of people have tattoos. A Pew research study from 2006 found that 36 percent of adults 18 to 25 have at least one, so do 40% of adults ages 26-40. Body piercings are popular, too. That doesn’t make them bad people.

Mattel had to have anticipated this firestorm. An article in the UK Daily Mail helpfully outlines a history of tattoed Barbies that raised a ruckus with consumers. There was Butterfly Barbie in 1999 and Totally Stylin’ Tattoos in 2009, the tattoos were stick-on. The 1999 gal was pulled from the shelves after parents complained. Totally Stylin’ stayed on shelf, which is too bad because that name is just too awful. I’m not sure that I would have wanted to buy my daughter anything labeled “Totally Stylin.’”

This time around, Mattel isn’t budging. They issued a statement noting that the doll is aimed at collectors. Naturally, major media have joined in to fill in the blanks. Is a tattooed Barbie going to harm young girls? Doubtful.

Taken at face value, this new Barbie shouldn’t be raising the attention that it has. Barbie breaking boundaries is old news. Tattoos on Barbie is twenty year-old news. That a tattooed Barbie would raise the ire of some parents and be accepted by others is so predictable. There is nothing, absolutely nothing new.

But news it is, and the Mattel + tokidoki team is standing firm: this doll isn’t being marketed to kids. It was sold on the Barbiecollector.com site. The only puzzler is that the doll was released pre-holiday. I’m sure that a few of the complainers scratched Barbie off their holiday lists as a result of the so-called controversy. But there are lots of other gifts that could have worse impact on young kids: iphones for 10 year olds, say.

Oh, one more thing: her pet, a dog dressed up to look like a cactus, is called ‘Bastardino’ and her silver sparkly shoes are sky-high platforms. Total fun. Unfortunately, she’s sold out.

What do you think of the fuss around tokidoki Barbie?

The company launched a Facebook app for men, called “The Ten Man-ments,” is advertising during college football games, trying to capture the man who wants a diet drink but doesn’t want to really admit that to anyone. The tagline? “It’s not for women.”

Not surprisingly, the campaign has backfired. According to Wavemetrix,  it’s generating lots of negative attention. Men say they’re okay with the positioning but agree it’s offensive and women have taken to the social media channels saying they’ll take their diet drink business elsewhere.

See the video here:

The Dr. Pepper people say that the campaign is supposed to be a joke. But no one seems to be getting it. What happened?

The difference between how Venus and Mars behave let marketers tell a compelling story.(rivets?). Conflict is at the heart of great storytelling. But brands can risk taking that conflict too far.

But what’s interesting here is how the Dr. Pepper marketing people covered their bases when talking about new soda to the press. They said that 40% of people who tried and approved of the diet drink in six test markets were women. So who is the brand really aimed at, anyway?

Well, everyone, it seems, and perhaps that’s the intention. A campaign that’s skewed to be provocative can benefit from a public relations campaign to tell the story to all possible audiences, with a wink and a nod to the targeted core. If Dr. Pepper 10 doesn’t go by the way of New Coke, I can see a phase two campaign where women bloggers are invited to an immersion in the 10-calorie Dr. Pepper experience, follow the “The Man-ments” for a month – and chart their experiences with it on their blogs. Maybe the brand sponsors a Top-Chef quick-fire that pits the guys against the gals to come up with the healthiest dish using the soda that will appeal to a duo of 10-calorie Dr. Pepper tasters (man and woman). You follow?

Oh, and for the record, I think the ad is funny. It shows men being so stupid that I, for one, can’t possibly take it seriously. Will that turn me into a Dr. Pepper 10 drinker? I don’t think so, the brand told me that it doesn’t want me, in no uncertain terms.

With over 20 years of marketing experience, Brand Connections’ President, Sherry Orel, knows a thing or two about brand messaging.  She also know the most effective approach to delivering a brand’s message requires more than clever copy and creative; it’s about timing too.

It’s no wonder she captured the editor’s attention at AdAge; her smart take on dwell-time media is not only insightful, but lively too.

Read this article in the “CMO Strategy” section of AdAge.

There are two types of changes: evolutionary and revolutionary.  An “evolutionary” change is gradual, occurring over time, while a “revolutionary” change is sudden and complete.

To revolutionize something, you need to think creatively, solve a real problem and approach the solution from a different perspective than before.

That’s exactly what Company B and KalvinPR client, 4sight, did when redesigning a new ketchup packet for Heinz. Their new packet design solves the 40 year old problem — ketchup packets spurt.

The news first appeared in The Wall Street Journal and was subsequently picked up by many other other national news outlets.

Read the article, which appeared on the front page of the Marketplace section of The Wall Street Journal and watch the story from CBS below.

Message inside: "Think of it as a time-out between stupid bosses." $3.49

Hallmark is marketing unemployment cards – and the creative director of the company was on NPR to talk about it. Greeting cards aimed at the unemployed are perfect PR fodder and the mainstream news media has jumped to the bait. Time, The Washington Post, the LA Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer all covered. The story is getting attention because the notion is so counter-intuitive.

I can see how Hallmark decided  to create a greeting card line to help soothe suffering souls and bolster the spirits of job-seekers. Hallmark believes that its products help make people’s days brighter. That’s what greeting cards typically do. A company “spokesman” has also been quoted as saying that he doesn’t expect the new line to be a barn-burner. Hmmm.

By Hallmark promoting the effort, the company PR team is drumming up attention for the brand during a slow season for greeting cards. That may have been the strategy in the first place. But I think that spending $3 on a card and sending it to someone who likely gave up their daily $3 Starbucks habit (and a whole lot more) seems off the mark. The public relations campaign supporting these cards feels icky to me. Even though our instincts as PR people tell us that we have a good story to tell; we have to stop and ask ‘why?’ Maybe there are stories that are better left untold.

Perhaps these cards would have been more meaningful if they were in the value price range of around a dollar or, better yet, offered as a  free e-card?  Hallmark could have built good will with a campaign aimed at helping the social good. For example with each purchase, Hallmark donates a portion of the proceeds towards an organization that provides job training.  That’s a good story to tell.

What do you think about the Hallmark story? Good PR, or not-so-good?