It is All About the Ether: Lessons to be learned for all businesses from the Premiere Episode of AMC’s “The Pitch”

AMC’s new show featuring two agencies going after one major account premiered last night. A quick recap of the details followed by a HUGE takeaway from the episode important for anyone in business:..

Waste Management wants the public to know that they’re much more than a trash company. Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Dave Aardsma is out to rebrand WM as an energy provider, noting that the company creates “more energy than the entire solar industry.” Hoping for an edgy way to get that message out there, Waste Management has invited two rival ad agencies to pitch campaigns with viral potential.

The Ad Store, an NYC-based agency, is led by Founder/Chairman Paul Cappelli who’s worked with Coca Cola, Jet Blue and Mike’s Hard Lemonade during his 30 years in the business. For Waste Management, his anti-bureaucratic agency begins with a small brainstorming session but then suffers a case of writer’s block. Finally, Paul has his “Aha! moment.” The idea? The tagline is “Trash Can” which celebrates the infinite number of things that trash can do — such as power over 1 million homes. 

SK+G, an agency in Las Vegas, is known for its work in the hospitality industry. Hoping to generate a maximum number of ideas, the agency begins with a large roundtable under the guidance of Managing Partner Jerry Kramer and Co-Creative Directors Ray Johnson and Doug Hentges. The team searches for a concept: Ray suggests “Pick it up, America”; Doug proposes “Join the Evolution.” Then Ray comes up with a tagline that pleases everyone: “Turning Waste into Wow.” The resulting campaign includes social media software that allows people to record/submit video of themselves “talking trash.”

From watching the small clips of the pitches, it was quickly apparent that SK+G’s approach was much more comprehensive and gave the client what they were looking for: a multi-channel campaign that had legs to go viral. It would be easy to assume this is why they got the job—they filled the requirement.  But, that isn’t exactly what happened.

After watching the rationale behind Waste Management’s pitch, it is clear that there was a lot more going on in that pitch room, as there needs to be for every one of your marketing messages.  SK+G shot above the requirement and launched their presentation with an emotional manifesto, aligning garbage with the dreams of immigrants as they journeyed to Ellis Island.  A far stretch by the logical mind, but even when viewing from home without any personal connection to Waste Management, I felt myself being sucked in. I can only imagine how the Executives felt.  This manifesto put the Executives in a heightened emotional state, making them much more open to saying yes to this team. Scammers call it “the ether,” a reference to the inhaled anesthetic sometimes used to knock out patients before surgery. When con artists get you into the “ether,” the rational mind goes out the window and the emotional mind takes over.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that SK+G were scamming Waste Management and SK+G was clearly the correct choice for their ability to produce the entire campaign.  The lesson to be learned here is that SK+G did not lead off with the technical-fact-giving side of the story as The Ad Store did. They led with an emotional appeal that pulled in and engaged fully the Waste Management Executive Team for the rest of the presentation.

While The Ad Store’s campaign of Trash Can was nothing short of brilliant, the lack of emotions and a comprehensive approach made their chances of winning close to nil.

When you create your marketing messages to reach your prospects and clients, you have to let go of the need to educate and focus on the need to emotionally engage.  Waste Management felt pain that they were just dealing with an unwanted substance of trash and wanted to change their image to one of energy resource.  SK+G delivered with an emotional appeal that engaged them.  The way to connect with your target markets is not through the features, advantages and benefits of your products or services. Key takeaway: Great marekting success will only come through an emotional appeal that heals the pains of your target market.

Want to have a conversation about how to approach your marketing with an emotional appeal? Act now and contact us today.