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Reality … Or Just TV

Posted by Joseph Riggio on Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Sometimes changing the game means first knowing what game you’re playing in ... then beginning to notice for what rules are in play ... and only then making decisions about what to be doing next ...

Mornin' All,

Okay everyone ... why don't we all come back to earth ... IF THE EARTH SURVIVES OF COURSE!

A course in "How Not To Advertise" follows:

I came across a note about GM's "Chevy Tahoe" interactive commercial campaign developed with "The Apprentice" television reality show recently. GM decided with some "advice" from the folks over at The Apprentice to create an interactive video advertising campaign for their "Tahoe" SUVs ("caveat consultor"). The premise was to allow people onto their website to build "custom ads" using the video clips and music supplied by Chevrolet and their own text.

Start here for an idea of what happened as a result:

  • YouTube.com "Tahoe" Video
  • c|net News.com "Tahoe" Video

    • As an example of viral marketing the "Tahoe" commercials have been a tremendous success ... thousands of people have become involved in the campaign, and many more than that have viewed the result. Of course the "message" created wasn't exactly what Chevrolet was hoping for I'm guessing ... but you be the judge.


    This example points out how not to go about creating a community with intention ... or at least not attending to the potential outcomes you might be creating when you do.

    Now I'm posing two questions to the folks as GM:

  • Where are you now - given that what's happened, happened?"
  • Knowing now what you do - given what's happened - what do you know that you didn't before ... and how will that affect what you do next?

    • I'll point out two things about the questions I've posed above ...:

  • I haven't embedded or suggested a "blame frame" with my question set - in no way does it ask "who" or "why" in relation to what happened ... in other words it keeps everything at the level of information/data

  • I have presented my questions in a definite sequence, and in this case the sequence matters - first, "Where are you?" ... or an analysis of the current state/situation, and second, "What next?" ... a consideration of where you want to be going

    • It makes little to no sense whatsoever to be considering where you want to be going before you know where you are. And my guess would be that GM wants to take their campaign somewhere other than:

    "These folks (Chevrolet) are making the machines (Tahoe SUVs) that are killing the planet, and the folks who drive them are selfish bastards who simply don't care about anything or anyone but themselves."

    Of course this was just my guess when I saw the commercials I've directed you to above. Yet let's presume me correct as we go on.

    Typically the first thing that many people and most companies do when confronted with a situation like this one would be do find out "Who's to blame?" - because it has to be somebody's fault ... after all these things don't just happen! This serves zero value except possibly redirecting the attention away from one's self and saving one's proverbial ass (a much too common practice in business from my point of view ... perpetrated by those who begin by suggesting, "people should take more risks").

    So, instead of moving towards what they want, tremendous energy, time and resources will be consumed looking backwards ... where we definitively know the desired outcome DOESN'T EXIST!. More importantly they'll often be doing this at the cost of moving forward to where they claim they want to be going. ... GET OVER IT!

    Let's move onto the next point I make, the sequence of the questions. First, as I've pointed out above you'll want to know where you are NOW ... putting much more attention on this point than on how you got here. The ability to notice fully where you are will make a significant difference in both where you decide to go next and how you decide to get there.

    What you'll want to develop will be the acuity to pick up the signals in the environment/context and the responses that these signals are generating - both in you and in others - remember, "It's just information/data - IT MEANS NOTHING!

    Even the responses generated in you "mean nothing" before they are just responses ... information/data. You will want to notice what has happened and what continues to happen in an unbroken stream until you begin to get a sense of the continuum including where it will likely be going ... "the inherent pattern" ... that forms the basis of the skill of "adumbration."

    Okay, you have:

  • a) some sense of where you are
  • b) what's been happening in this system
  • c) how that continues to shape the system
  • d) where the system seems to be going ...

    • You can now begin to think in relation to what you want to be doing next to shape the direction the system might take.

    The question where do you want to be going next begins to make a lot more sense at this point ... only from here can you expect your responses to be coming from a place other than "knee-jerk reactions" and be based in a real sense of what could be possible given where you are ... i.e.: ""What's Next?"

    Chevrolet's response:

  • 1) Retreat/Withdrawl - shut down the system (at least for some time)
  • 2) Strong Arm Tactics - threaten legal action against those who aren't playing their game by their rules:

    • The rules say any attempt to "undermine the legitimate operation of the contest may be a violation of criminal and civil laws." - c|net.com

  • Censorship - beginning to censor ads that don't portray what they want them to be saying
  • "CYA" - "Cover Your Ass" tactics by the players in the game (see the link viral marketing for more information)

    • You will not always be able to predict with accuracy what the result of your actions will produce, however you can always choose how to be responding in a moment to moment way ... taking the time to breath may make all the difference ...

    INHALE ... EXHALE ... INHALE ... EXHALE ... continue ...

    Joseph Riggio, Ph.D.
    Princeton, NJ

    My schedule just opened for "Exquisite Performance" individual private coaching sessions - both in person and via tele-coaching. If you are interested in doing some coaching with me personally get the information about what you can expect from it and how I'll go about doing it with you at: Exquisite Performance Coaching Services Offered by Joseph Riggio, Ph.D. in the "Services/Coaching" section on my website.

    When you're ready to find out more schedule a FREE private tele-conference directly with me to discuss the specifics ... what, how, when ... you'll find a link to do this on the page above as well.

    (3) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink

    Living out in the sticks of somewhere in Ohio.....and having access to very slow internet connection ( I think I have 2 hamsters running the data through the phone line).....I was able to view a couple of the videos.

    GM’s statement “The rules say any attempt to “undermine the legitimate operation of the contest may be a violation of criminal and civil laws.”

    Probably....this is only my view.....encouraged the satire of the video’s made that it has received. Already having the Intent that this is what this contest could encourage.

    GM’s website could’ve required filling out a questionaire to find out what kind of vehicles those people currently were driving.........and required a real e-mail address to create an ad.

    One point that I heard recently, is that the American Car companies build cars that they want us to have. And the foreign car companies build the type of cars that we desire.

    I don’t know how true this is......but Toyota has moved into the number 3 spot largest car company in the world.

    As for your headline.....Reality … Or Just TV
    I would have to say....it’s just TV of people competing with the rules the show requires.

    Last year...I think it was DateLine… was interviewing people who had competed on shows such as Survivor. And what was said was....the audience wasn’t seeing what actually was happening.....that at times, different scenes were actually rehersed or re-filmed for better TV.

    JJ

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