It's the little things that count
Published on 02/13/1995 under Book Reviews
I've collected hundreds of books written by and about advertising people over the years, but none is more engrossing than a new one by Randall Rothenberg entitled Where the Suckers Moon (Alfred A. Knopf 1994). Written like a novel, but researched and documented like a doctoral thesis, this 400-plus page tome provides an insider's view of the solicitation of the Subaru of America account by six highly decorated agencies, and the subsequent work done for Subaru by Weiden & Kennedy, the account review winner.
The book offers so many insights, it's hard to choose where to begin. From a historical standpoint, Rothenberg provides detailed accounts of how Subaru first began in America, how Levine, Huntley, Schmidt & Beaver elevated itself from Jewish agency fashion advertising obscurity, and how Dan Weiden and David Kennedy plotted to start their own agency by stealing the Nike account from Richard Cain, among others.
The book is crammed full of juicy facts and anecdotes. Like how George Lois blew his brief chance with Subaru in 1975 by using Japanese baseball legend Masaichi Kaneda in a campaign based on what Americans have learned from the Japanese and vice versa. (Kaneda is Korean.)
Or how Weiden & Kennedy's first breakthrough national TV spot for Honda motorscooters featuring punk rocker Lou Reed was saved in post-production after the film was underexposed by an inexperienced director.
Or the time Chiat/Day founder Guy Day booked a full page in the WALL STREET JOURNAL to tout the agency's work for Nike, only to be shot down at the last minute by a furious client who felt the agency was claiming credit for things it didn't do. The space was paid for, so the simple message to Nike marketing director Bob Strasser was, "Bob, Peace. (Signed) Guy."
The first part of Rothenberg's book sets up the agency review and describes the incredible preparation by the six participating agencies. Nothing is left to your imagination: the room set ups, presenters' clothing, their mannerisms... all vividly detailed as if you are actually sitting in the room.
You hear about the "car guys," the specialists employed by four of the six agencies to give them an edge in understanding the key issues Subaru was facing in the marketplace.
And Rothenberg takes us through each agency's recommended creative and media approaches, from slogans and positioning rationale to TV storyboards, print ad comps and promotional ideas.
For example, Jordan, McGrath, Case & Taylors' Jim Jordan describes a rainy day test drive promotion (we'll pick you up in our 4-wheel drive Subaru if you're afraid to drive your car to the dealership). W.B. Doner, Baltimore's famous retail-oriented agency, sent staff members to a Subaru dealer for several days to learn the trials and tribulations of selling Subaru cars (they actually sold one). Levine, Huntley, Vick & Beaver, the incumbent agency, proposed a campaign using L.A. Law's Michael Tucker and had developed ads around his unique personality.
And the ultimate winner, Weiden & Kennedy, presented a witty campaign satirizing car advertising, with headlines like, "Weld a peace sign to the hood and make believe you're driving a Mercedes." For the tiny Subaru Justy, they suggested, "Going down a very steep hill, it feels a lot like a Ferrari." They even presented a balloon for dealer sales events with the imprint, "Large balloon to keep kids quiet while salesman closes deal."
Their theme, "Subaru. What to drive." was eventually produced in several award-winning TV and print ads (typical copy: "A car is just a car. It's sole reason is to get you from point A to Point B. It won't make you handsome, etc.")
The amount of effort was mind-boggling. It makes you proud and sad at the same time. Proud to be a part of such an exciting, creative industry, but sad that we so readily give away the very services we profess to sell.
One of the key lessons I learned from this fascinating book, however, is almost a throwaway comment Rothenberg makes in the second chapter when he's describing the gradual loss of power by ad agencies in the seventies and eighties. He attributes this to a steady cutback in agency services over that period, most notably research services.
No longer was the agency the one that had answers for everything. Suddenly the client knew things the agency didn't. Or the client could get the information it needed from a third party research firm that was selling industry-wide surveys to anyone who wished to purchase them.
Agencies instead were fronting their creative services. They became convinced that "art" was more important than "science" and proceeded to staff their firms with creative all-stars who could attract clients seeking the hottest creative product.
You can see it clearly in the Subaru pitch. Virtually all of the competing agencies (even the incumbent, Levine, Huntley) used research to get close to consumer motivations and they all arrived at roughly the same conclusion -- that Subaru makes well-engineered, but unfashionable cars that appeal to consumers who are tired of empty slogans.
Then they proceeded to pile on the empty slogans. Even Weiden & Kennedy, who won the review with an anti-advertising approach, ultimately caved in to dealer pressure within six months and started producing retail ads to "move the metal."
Which brings us back to the quirky title Rothenberg has chosen for his prodigious work. It comes from a quote by A.J. Leibling in The Honest Rainmaker, "Fortune swims, not with the main stream of letters, but in the shallows, where the suckers moon."
As a former advertising columnist for The New York Times, and someone who spent a full two years researching and writing his book, Rothenberg knows what so many of us practitioners have learned the hard way: It's naive to assume that our creativity will take us to the heights of fame and fortune. Instead, we ply our trade day-by-day, meticulously adjusting photo lights, going to midnight press checks, and rewriting copy to satisfy heavy-handed clients.
Because, in advertising, it's the little things that count. And that's what our clients pay us to do.