Jane Genova: Speechwriter - Ghostwriter

Madonna: The art & science of comebacks

C.S. Lewis observed that experience is a brutal teacher but we learn, god, how we learn.

With the current volatility in the economy and how the media can upend careers, comebacks are more common.  Or at least the attempt at them.  Also, another force driving comebacks is simple aging and there is a lot of that these days.

So, many of us are watching Madonna, now over-50.  Can she pull off a comeback?  She performed at halftime during the SuperBowl.  She did a film on the Duchess of Windsor.  She produced a new album MDNA. 

It is frequently with some glee that both the official media and twitters opine critically about this comeback.  In FORBES, for example, Roger Friedman reports that album MDNA had the second week biggest drop in sales history.  It went from 359,000 the first week to 46,000 the second.  The first week's numbers were partly due to the CDs included with the sale of concert tickets.

Is Madonna, who always had more than the average share of highly vocal critics, under the microscrope because what she has recently been turning out is not exciting?  Or is it because her aging makes her a target in the entertainment world which can be brutal on those over even 40?

The interesting thing to watch here is what Madonna does, both in the art and science (proven promotional formulas), to remain relevant.  We have noticed how former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has yet to catch on again.  He has tried being a columnist and a talker on TV.  Former politico Al Gore has never really made it back after his splash in positioning global warming as the cause.  His Current TV isn't doing so hot.  Oprah Winfrey is starting out yet again to make OWN a go. 

On the other hand, Hillary Clinton roared back as Secretary of State after her defeat in campaigning for the White House.  Me? To my surprise I have been able to come back yet again.  Most recently it was from the error of trying to have a young - read that "snarky" - voice on the web.  Among others, Gawker panned me.  But here I am back.  My list of clients from the establishment and startups is growing.  If there is a secret to the comeback it is to become hopeless or bottom out.  Henry Cloud has lots of wisdom on that in his book "Necessary Endings."  That dynamic also underlines 12-step programs: Surrender to win.  Before this, my last comeback was around 2004 (Download Geezerguts).

 

Aging: Even Madonna has come to embrace it

So many of us Baby Boomers remember Madonna as the girl from Detroit who was wicked smart enough as well as hungry and bold enough to exploit her Catholic background.  Her bet was right.  The anger of the Catholic Church fueled her rise to the top.  She never gave that piece up. She named her daughter Lourdes after the Catholic shrine where the sick are cured.

So, we wondered how she was going to handle that great equalizer aging.  As we live longer and have to struggle like hell to hold onto a career in a volatile marketplace, it's aging not death which has become so scary. Death would relieve us of our debt, at least.

Well, Madonna seems to be wise about embracing her own aging.  At halftime during the SuperBowl she did not try to act young.  Instead she gained control of her act by surrounding herself with youth. 

Some may frame this as her comeback. She has a new movie coming out this week and a new album in March.  But, I view her performance tonight as more her creating the platform for a mellow entertainer who knows how to put on a good show.  She will likely travel the world trying to find talent to front load her acts. 

For those of us Baby Boomers who are determined to continue to work Madonna might just prove to be a role model.

SuperBowl: Streaming not ready for primetime

I'm watching the SuperBowl on my laptop via http://nflstream.nbcsports.com.  The quality of the video and sound is excellent.  My only complaint, at least for this location, is that the coverage stops now and then for "buffering."

This has been my third try.  My first two links for streaming kept on blaring "coverage interrupted" for technical problems.  If I were an crazy sports fan I would have had a heart attack.   I am in it for the commercials, which so far have not been wow. 

For example, Bud's was a stretch with the reach back to the day Prohibition ended.  And the cooperative ad between GE and Bud played several times.  The first time wasn't all that hot and the repetitions didn't improve it.  Perhaps we would be better off following the Coca-Cola Polar Bears following the game.

UPDATE

Here is what THE NEW YORK TIMES has to say about the 50 commercials.  Apparently, they didn't become any more compelling after half time.  Fortunately Don Draper will be back on "Mad Men" on March 25th to bring back authentic creativity to advertising.

By the time Madonna  was finished attempting a comeback,  I had left my streaming spot at my laptop and returned to old-line TV and watched "Downtown Abbey."  And it was a good thing I did.  So much heartache is ahead for the residents, both upstairs and downstairs, even though the war is ended.  Here you can catch up.

SuperBowl Halftime: Material Girl performs 12 minutes for free

There's plenty of incentive for a celebrity to perform for free during halftime on the SuperBowl.  For Madonna this year, it's the platform for her comeback.  That won't be easy since the space she created so many years ago is now inhabited by Lady Gaga.

Madonna will be singing the song "Give Me All Your Luvin'" from her new album MDNA, which will be released in March.  Also her new film "W.E." is opening.  It's a deconstruction of that enigma Wallis Simpson and her hold on a king.

Yes, the incentive is there.  Only time will tell if it pays off in career resurrection for Madonna.

SuperBowl Ads: Coca-Cola's Polar Baby Bear will have eyes covered by BigBear when racy commercials come on

Coca-Cola is outdoing itself for SuperBowl XLVI. 

In addition to its now-iconic Polar Bear commercial, during the game, those bears will be stars of video streaming on CokePolarBowl.com.  That's going to happen through Facebook where the bears watch the game, comment on it, and even deconstruct the commercials.  Since there will be more the usual number of racy ads, including for consumer product Doritos, bear parents will cover the eyes of Baby Bear if the content is too explicit.

I check out both the business and art of SuperBowl ads in a post for financial information powerhouse Motley Fool.  Here you can read all about it.

Mass Market: Don Draper would be writing SuperBowl ads today

There is a mass market.  It comes together for sports.  It surges for the SuperBowl. 

BUSINESS INSIDER reports that, on the average, 30-second spots sold for SuperBowl 2012 @$3.5 million each, which was up from last year.  When Don Draper of "Mad Men" was writing the ads for it - that was the first SuperBowl in 1967 - air time had cost $40,000.

But the mass market is shrinking for the President's State of the Union, where the drama is predictable.  The camera tracks the big political names coming in, listening, and beaming or frowning, depending on their party affiliation.  According to Nielsen, reports "Media Decoder" in THE NEW YORK TIMES, the audience for this year's address was about 37.8 million, down from 42.8 million last year, and 52.3 million the year before.

In addition to stale performance art, the State of the Union in this presidential campaign year carried too much sales baggage.  Watching it was much like sitting through an infomercial.

 

"The Inevitable" - Maybe that concept doesn't live here any more

Danger ahead for Romney.  That's what watchers say.  Given savvy public relations mashed up with digital technology, nothing is inevitable, not any more.  POLITICO anticipates that Romney will not march to victory but, if he gets to the White House, it will only be after stumbling along a long hard road.

"The Inevitable" is simply not a concept which lives in our society any more. There are no sure things, be they getting a job or a relationship.

The SuperBowl: Rite of salvation

This year the SuperBowl will be more than a game and ads which could live on in the national consciousness.  With the allegations of child sexual abuse at Penn State, it will be a rite of salvation.  No surprise, Joe Paterno has lawyered up, just in case.

We may never know that facts.  Not with such brilliant lawyers in America.  But facts have rarely gotten in the the way of public opinion.  The sport of football is now perceived as having sinned.  The Roman Catholic Church would classify that as a mortal sin. 

At the SuperBowl, the sport will have to ask the world for absolution.  Will that be granted?

MomsRising.org, et al. - What biz needs to learn about messaging/marketing

Mommy communicators, such as Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner at MomsRising.org are wildly successful, by every measure, ranging from revenue to influence.  For example, Heather Armstrong's blog Dooce.com brings in monthly $30,000 to $50,000 and has about 100,000 daily visitors, reports THE NEW YORK TIMES. 

 
Clearly, with this kind of track record, biz can learn plenty about messaging and marketing.  Within Mommy communications, biz can find the new best practices for a mutating global economy continually disrupted by technology.

How and what to learn?  That education begins with slowing down and savoring the Mommy posted material.  On MomsRising.org's blog, Claire Monsenberg states the now about what's in the typical school lunch box.  Then she provides the solution.  Yeah, pretty old-fashion problem-solution configuration.  What's different and what's so effective is how Mommy bloggers like Mosenberg put this out there.  Here are some highlights:

Simple language, unambiguous message.  This is one Mommy talking to other Mommys.  No question, she knows who she's speaking to.   If consumer products companies want to listen in, they're certainly welcome.  But they are not number-one in her outreach.

The closest analogy for this simplicity and the clear message is how 12-step program Alcoholics Anonymous communicates, both on a group and individual level.  Those open to hearing the message get it and the miracle of sobriety happens.  With Mommys, the result - emotionally healthy children - occurs in the same way.

Short. Mommys don't have much time so communications are brief, to the point.  End of that story, at least for now.

Caring.  This messenger has one mission: Nurturing her children.  That focus is so over-riding that it characterizes every aspect of communications.

Informed.  This woman knows what she is talking about.  She has to.  Children change daily.  The world changes daily.  Mommy changes daily.  This woman recognizes she better be right, at least on this topic at this time.

Optimistic.  The economy might be going to hell but there's a nest this woman creates for her children.  Therefore, she has the power to create all contours of that world.  Not beholden to external forces, of course, Mommy is optimistic.

Yes, Biz can strut that same optimism.  That puts out there a powerful underlying message.  And that's that we're the ones who shape our now and future and we do that with our mindset or mental models. 

 Note: Today, Rowe-Finkbeiner will be a presenter at the American Association of University Women [AAUW] national news conference on women's voters in 2012.  Here are the details Download WOMEN VOTERS.

SuperBowl: It's More Than Morning in Detroit, It's Lux

9:05 P.M. New York Time.  Those of us who had worked in Detroit, whether it was the best of times or the worst of times for the auto industry, were grabbed by the throat by the Chrysler ad.  Not only was it morning back in MoTown. It was luxury, with a touch of Eminem.  And the lux didn't happen in New York or Chicago but Detroit. 

 

Both Chrysler and Eminem are amazing comeback tales.  A touch of creative genius to make this a mashup.  There's a pull force generated to run out and buy a high-end Chrysler.

Overall, it's the car companies which stood out among all the SuperBowl ads.  Perhaps it's because the auto idustry had been hit so hard during the recession that they could make this real connection with the public.  Other industries which haven't suffered so much, such as Internet services, presented themselves in commercials as too clever by half.