Know your audience: A lesson from Food Network

Today I received the following Tweet from the most-watched network in the Fuller home, the Food Network:

"This one's for fans of NFNS runner-up, Jeffery Saad- the Ingredient Smuggler is back with exclusive web-only videos! http://bit.ly/tIoqC"

Avid viewers like myself immediately recognized the name of the second-place finisher on their wildly-popular show, "Next Food Network Star."  And, if they're anything like me, they immediately clicked on the link to be regaled by Jeffrey as he made tilapia tacos with Anise seed.

Jeffrey was an early front-runner for the show's grand prize, a series on the Food Network, and was clearly very popular with FN viewers.  But this strikes me as something exquisitely more well-planned than just a bone-throw to the runner-up and his fans.  What the Food Network is doing is exhibiting excellent understanding of audience, medium, and content.

In the end, NFNS judges deemed Saad's appeal slightly too narrow for an entire series on the network.  Saad's "culinary point of view" focuses on unusual ingredients folded into everyday cuisine.  It is hip, exotic, and appeals to a different set than the deserving winner, Melissa D'Arabian, whose specialty is providing helpful tips to survive everyday culinary challenges drawn from her equally impressive reservoir of food knowledge.

It strikes me that the Food Network's marketing team did its homework in launching Saad's online series.  Generally speaking, the set attracted to Saad's style view food in an almost recreational capacity: It is sustenance, to be sure, but for these adverturers food also represents a hobby, a way to experience new cultures, and a chance to branch out from the mundane.  These are seekers and travelers who enjoy spice in their lives as much as on their plates.

The most effective way to reach these people - and they are still a demo FN should reach - is not a 30-minute show airing at 12:30 PM ET on Sundays (when D'Arabian's show airs), when many of them are mid-weekend adventure or recovering from it. Instead, this audience is better-served by cutting the "unnecessary" portions from a 30-minute show, briefly describing a new ingredient, and showing how it is made in 5-7 minutes online, when it can be viewed at their leisure.

My hunch is the FN was looking for a chance to try this web-only launch of a show.  In Saad, they found a known entity with a built-in fan base through which to give it a go.  Kudos to them on a fine job of marketing and audience recognition.  Content is always king, but it is surely helped by providing the right medium to the right audience, as Food Network has done.



Marketing/PR colleagues, you feel me?

AF

Don't sweat the small stuff

Yes, I know.  It is an odd title given my last post, but I came across a news article just now that is ripe with perspective, and as you'll see, the titles of this post and my last aren't really incongruous.  Let me explain.

What got my wheels turning is this story relating how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on his trip to Germany, received blueprints to the Auschwitz concentration camp.  The gesture, made by German journalists, appeared to be not so much a macabre gift as it was a means to provide Israel's top diplomat with a connection to the darkest chapter in his family and his nation's history.

Netanyahu's family was nearly wiped out by the Nazis in World War II.

Particularly interesting was this quote:

"Kai Diekmann, editor of Bild, Germany's top-selling newspaper, said as he handed Netanyahu the plans that there could never be a real normalization of German-Israeli relations after the Holocaust."

That may be true enough, though I doubt many in 1945 could have foreseen an Israeli Prime Minister visiting a unified Berlin, for a variety of reasons.  History has a way of making fools of fortune tellers.

I also doubt many could know just what was going through Netanyahu's mind as he looked over this decades-old murder map with words like "Gaskammer" on it, a symbol of the unspeakably horrible place where 1.1 million of his people died.  The article describes that he is also slated to visit the site where plans for Hitler's "Final Solution" were made.

And while it's true that Netanyahu's meeting with German Chancellor Merkel was probably mostly centered around Iran's nuclear program and the sausage-making that at times is diplomacy, that doesn't preclude the fact there can be inspiration in this episode, if we choose to see it, and it deals with perspective.

The moral courage and emotional fortitude it must take to visit such sites strikes me as compelling and noteworthy.  And it kinda makes me not so concerned that the bosses might not like my Web designs.

Perspective is what allows us to decide which "stuff" to "sweat." In a strange paradox, I think we're better off sweating the stuff that allows us to help others - if even in small ways - but not sweating it when they stand in our way/disappoint us/wrong us.

I don't know if Netanyahu's trip and interactions are a sign that he's forgiven what was done to his people, or if this is a cathartic journey, or if this is merely political show.  But I do know all of us tend to dwell on minutia at the expense of the bigger picture; we devote our toil and sweat into that which divides us - even seeking it our sometimes - instead of dismissing it as "small stuff" as we should. 

Apply this however you will - or not at all.  Pehaps the only takeaway for some of us is simply asking, "What makes me sweat?"  And then ask yourself, "Is it really worth all that?"

You feel me?



AF

Sweat the small stuff

Those who run in Marketing/PR/Social Media Marketing circles probably heard about the unfortunate incident described in this post from Douglas Karr's excellent Marketing Technology Blog.

To summarize, a seemingly seasoned PR professional (at least, if seasoned means she helps run her own firm founded in 1988) tried to pitch a product to a group of industry heavyweights in slipshod and clumsy fashion. The result was not only a failure to advance the client's product, but also a whirlwind of backlash that has likely done serious damage to the firm's credibility and trustworthiness.

And though we live in this ever-changing, ever-higher-tech media world, trust is still a (the?) vital component in any relationship, professional or otherwise.

Her major mistake? Among other things, failing to put the addresses of her email pitch recipients into the BCC field.

That got me thinking about not just work, but life on the whole. Sometimes, it can be the "small" stuff that makes all difference. Yet regrettably, it seems attention to detail increasingly yields to sensationalism, self-promotion, and self-service today.

The truth is that often it is in the details that we show we care for the people we come into contact with on a daily basis. This is true in every interpersonal interaction, from respecting our clients' time and privacy, holding the door for a perfect stranger, or allowing someone to change lanes on the freeway (thanks, Geggy Tah). And it's especially true in marriage, as caring for the small things shows you care for your spouse in major ways. (Thanks for setting the coffee maker this morning, Mrs. Fuller.)

So that's my encouragement today: Sweat the small stuff. Show someone - everyone - you care by paying attention to the details of your interaction.

You feel me?

AF

When in Rome Wednesday: Welcome to southern Indiana

As mentioned at the start of this series, southern Indiana is in ways strikingly different than the state north of Indianapolis. The geography, the values, and yes, the accents, make this place distinct from the Indiana I knew north of I-74. To be honest, I guess I always figured the Ohio River acted as some sort of impenetrable cultural barrier that made Indiana homogeneous, and kept the South at bay. I was wrong.

Not that this is all negative. In fact, maybe it's best to issue a disclaimer and say virtually all the posts in the "When in Rome" series should be understood to have been written with my tongue firmly implanted in my cheek. As I've seen, there is a trusting nature and a moral clarity among the people here that are redeeming.

Still, at least one lifelong resident refers to this region as, "the dumb end of the state." And so, without further ado, allow me to recount a few vignettes that have immersed me in a new culture in the same state in which I was raised.

• The Skoal Stop. On my first day of work, executive management took me to lunch at a local eatery, The Double Dog. It was your typical small town sandwich shop, located in an old storefront the ceiling of which still maintained the intricate designs of its 1800s grand opening. On the way back to the office, with country music pulsating the speakers, one of the vice presidents announced he needed to make a stop at Casey's. His purpose? To obtain his canister of Skoal chewing tobacco. My colleague noted, "You're getting a nice taste of southern Indiana: Country music, stopping for Skoal." Indeed.

• The Homeless Name Game. One day while running a work-related errand, my co-worker and I passed by a homeless man on the street. "Oh, there's Reno," said my colleague, waving to the man with with dirty gray hair flowing from his Mopar cap. "Reno?" "Yes, Reno," he informed me. "He's one of the three homeless people who live here." He then went on to tell me the names of the other two, but I was still trying to wrap my head around the concept and didn't catch them: Everyone in town knows the names of the three homeless residents. In some ways I suppose that's oddly comforting.

• The Wild West Coffee Shop. I have discovered a fine coffee shop in town, one that would rival many in other, more cosmopolitan areas. That's not to say the clientele would appreciate the relocation, however. Upon my first visit, I strode in and immediately felt like the buckaroo who mosies into the dusty saloon in an old Western movie. Everyone froze and stared at me and knew immediately I wasn't local. After I ordered my Americano, the barista and owner asked me as much. He was quickly distracted though when an elderly regular asked where he got the light fixtures. "At a store...in Chicago...called 'I-kee-ah'," was the reply.

• The Fee-for-Service Honor System. The local quick lube establishment will pick up your car at your work, change the oil, etc., and bring it back. When I inquired how I should render payment, I was told, "Oh, just come in and pay when you get a chance." I guess that's the nice thing about a small town: You know where everyone lives and/or works.

• No Sleeves, No Problem. It's true - virtually every male aged 25-75 feels it is his birthright to go sans sleeves if the forecasted temperature is above 82 degrees. This is apparently viewed as appropriate attire in virtually every public setting, from stores and restaurants to the workplace. Even despite the mild summer, I have been an involuntary party to too many gun shows this year.
  

There are other stories, like the previously covered road maintenance debacle, and the first-I've-seen Confederate flag fuzzy dice hanging proudly from a rear view mirror. But perhaps another time.

In the end, it bears mentioning that what this place may lack in sophistication it more than compensates for in the kindness of its people and the beauty of the landscape. I am looking forward to the change of the season and getting around to learn more about the people and places of southern Indiana.

Just don't expect me to stop for Skoal along the way.

You feel me?

AF

Rather or not...

I spent four years in the news industry. It's admittedly not much, but it does give me a perspective into the business some do not have. Moreover, I spent my college years single-mindedly studying for a career in broadcast journalism (that is, when I was studying at all), so it's fair to say it is my first love of sorts.

Like most first loves, television journalism and I have grown apart. Perhaps I was naive not to notice 10 years ago when I started to pursue it as a career that the profession at times is little more than a veiled (and at times, not so veiled) bully pulpit for the group winning the appropriate ideological support: a corporation, a political group, whatever. And don't get me started on the precious newscast minutes devoted to Britney Spears and the Hollywood Idiot Class.

For these and other reasons, I decided to leave journalism and pursue a more honest profession: Politics.

Yet I still keep a keenly interested eye on the state of journalism in this country, which brings us to veteran newsman Dan Rather's emotional plea for what amounts to a bailout of news organizations in this country. Rather's complaint can be summed up in this clip:

"Corporate and political influence on newsrooms, along with the conflation of news and entertainment, has created what Rather called 'the dumbing down and sleazing up of what we see on the news.'"

Rather's solution is for President Obama to develop a commission to ensure this "dumbing" and "sleazing" is stopped, and competent journos are trained.

Put aside for a moment the irony of someone whose hands are far from clean when it comes to degrading the quality of network news now calling the kettles black. Interestingly, I find myself in a position where I cannot disagree with Rather's assessment. In fact, it sounds vaguely familiar.

What is puzzling to me is how Rather, who believes our system of government, "American democracy," depends on a press that is free and independent from that government, also believes the press can (must!) be saved by making it considerably more dependent on said government in the form of this "commission."

This proposal exposes many things about Rather and the state of journalism in America, but the most interesting, the freshest revelation is this: We are currently witnessing a changing of the guard between the Cronkite-Rather-Brokaw era and the new media - a faster, more agile, less-predictable form of journalism that is still pre-adolescent. Rather objects to this new brand of journalism as he apparently holds it responsible for the "dumbing" and "sleazing" of the product of news.

Rather's lamentation is largely misplaced, in my view. While it may be these new mediums are given to extreme brevity which often breeds sensationalism, it is not true this is solely a product of the medium itself; rather (excuse the pun), it is a growing pain brought on by the old guard's lagging ability to adapt. We saw this on full display in June during the Iranian elections, when Twitter was more reliable than CNN. As unbelievable as it may have seemed in 1980, the 24-hour cable news network was too slow and too unwieldy to capture events as they unfolded.

Do I think smart, savvy journos working for large networks can use sites like Twitter well and evolve with the times? Yes, some already do. Yet network news increasingly plays second fiddle to online sources offering on demand timing and complete consumer control of the product.

In the end, I believe folks like Rather know network news is dying, and with it a part of themselves withers away too. For Rather, the self-made son of a ditch-digger from Texas, it is all too painful to watch your first love pass on. You see, he still held on even when he and broadcast news were growing apart. His criticisms of the news, even in spite of their merits, come off now as little more than the sneering of a jealous ex-spouse.

You feel me?

AF