Inside MSNBC’s Big Ad Campaign…
The New York Times’ Brian Stelter writes about MSNBC’s Spike Lee ad campaign…
The tagline “defines us and defines our competition,” said Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC, his implication being that the Fox News Channel, which is No. 1 in cable news and a home for conservatives, is leaning backward. Fox’s best-known tagline is “Fair and Balanced.”
Some of the new MSNBC ads include shots of President Obama on his election night; others, directed by the filmmaker Spike Lee, showcase hosts like Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow preparing for their nightly programs; and still others feature quotes like “the future belongs to the fearless.”
The multimillion-dollar campaign is a long time coming for the 14-year-old MSNBC, and particularly for Mr. Griffin, who has complained for years about not having more money to market the channel. With “Lean Forward,” MSNBC is following other cable channels that have found success by building easy-to-identify brands — like Bravo, TBS, HBO or, Mr. Griffin freely acknowledges, Fox News.
“When you’re clear about who you are, you actually make money,” said Sharon Otterman, the chief marketing officer for MSNBC, who started work there one year ago.
October 4, 2010 at 5:27 pm
About time. MSNBC’s brand is less well known than Fox and CNN. According to the article
“Even so, awareness of MSNBC remains far below that of CNN or Fox, according to the company’s recent research, which found that only 51 percent of respondents said they were very or somewhat familiar with the channel. Ninety-five percent said they were familiar with CNN, and 90 percent with Fox. Sixty-four percent said they were familiar with HLN, the sister channel to CNN.”
October 5, 2010 at 2:44 am
These must be the ads that Ed Schultz was denied from being a part of, which lead to his outburst of wanting to “torch this effing place“. I can’t blame him for wanting to get more attention for his brand, but he’s not a big time political pundit like Matthews, Olbermann and Maddow are.
October 5, 2010 at 7:20 am
The two videos they link to are feel good, isn’t it great to be American, ads that have no real connection to MSNBC except a tag at the end. They could be advertising anything but they must work as I see versions of them all the time. When we see the ads featuring the talent we should get a better feel of where the campaign is headed. Like ProgLib I wonder if Ed will be featured in them.
The tag line ‘Leaning Forward’ has the potential to be mocked by changing it to ‘Leaning Left’ etc. But it’s ambiguous and not a flat out lie meant to confuse the viewer; like FNC’s ‘Fair & Balanced’; which has now become a laugh line for comedians.
Does anyone know whatever happened to replacing the MS from MSNBC? If they are doing a makeover that would seem to be something they could do to create a new image.
Did anyone else notice when you scroll over the ‘writes about’ in Spuds post above, the pop-up shows Chris Matthews but on the articles page it’s Rachael Maddow? Not really important but it’s curious why it’s not KO and why they made the change in the first place.
October 5, 2010 at 8:36 am
Honestly, I think that’s fine. Let the wing nuts mock. They like to mock MSNBC no matter what they do, or what they call themselves in their slogans. Those kind of things are meant to mock, just like the FNC slogan. At least MSNBC is being honest and not pretending to be something they aren’t, as you pointed out.
I don’t know anything about them wanting to do that, but it sounds like a terrible idea. MS is the only thing that distinguishes them from NBC on cable, just like Fox News is different from Fox Television.
And, regarding the ad changing to Maddow when you actually go to the article… mine changed after I signed up for NYT.com.
October 5, 2010 at 8:58 am
^ Out of curiosity, Prog… how is “leaning forward” more honest? Are they honestly falling over? Are their floors honestly not level? Are their chairs honestly broken?
I don’t get it… it just seems like nonsense to me.
October 5, 2010 at 9:19 am
Perhaps ‘Looking Forward’ would have been a better choice.
‘Leaning Forward’ does sound a bit weird if, like blue, you take it literally which is how most on the right will interpret the tag. Taking it literally is what makes ‘Fair & Balanced’ so much fun for us on the left.
October 5, 2010 at 9:33 am
^ Fritz, as you point out, thats the way the left has been operating for a while… especially as it concerns FNC.
The problem for me really is that it doesn’t describe anything about the network. “Leaning forward” or “Looking forward,” it doesn’t say anything about MSNBC’s goals or intentions. It makes for a good black bordered motivational poster… but not much more.
And certainly has nothing to do with “honesty.”
October 5, 2010 at 9:40 am
Here’s my problem with it. “Fair and Balanced” is horseshyte, but it’s a neutral horseshyte that doesn’t imply something negative about a specific audience. “Leaning Forward” insinuates that someone else is “backward”, obviously a liberal reference to conservative viewers of FNC. In my many in-depth conversations with righties over the years, one theme keeps repeating. “You guys think we’re stupid.” “Leaning Forward” may work for a liberal that already thinks of themselves as “right, progressive”, but FNC manages to get viewers like myself that don’t generally agree with their predominant ideology, but can enjoy the debate. I don’t see a conservative feeling welcome to join the conversation at MSNBC with the slight against them that is built into this ad campaign.
Apologies for the above paragraph that is either incredibly insightful and erudite, or a poorly thrown-together mash of words. I haven’t decided yet..
October 5, 2010 at 10:01 am
“Leaning forward” sounds ridiculous. It’s the exact sort of tagline I would imagine a bunch of East coast elitists would come up with after spending 6 hours in a boardroom sipping their lattes & watching the NYC traffic go by.
“We’re leaning foooorrwood, unlike those knuckle draggers who are leaning baaaackwoods. Pass the grey pooopahn please”.
You can lean whichever way you want but if you have a primetime lineup that refuses to debate and only serves to regurgitate far-left talking points, you’re never going to increase your numbers.
October 5, 2010 at 10:16 am
You can lean whichever way you want but if you have a primetime lineup that refuses to debate and only serves to regurgitate far-left talking points, you’re never going to increase your numbers.
Come on, LS, you’ve been running this meme for a week. It’s the classic “keep saying it until people believe it” scam. Hardball, The Ed Show, and The Last Word debate opponents every night. Rachel tries, but righties are afraid to go on her show because she’s so smart and reasonable while she destroys them. KO is the only primetimer who goes the Glenn Beck route.
October 5, 2010 at 10:28 am
Rachel tries? Hah. The head of the Log Cabin Republicans has been actively begging to be on her show. She won’t have him on. She’ll have someone like Rand Paul on, then spend the entire time calling him a racist because he thinks businesses should live & die on their own. To pretend she’s just begging to debate the issues is nonsense. She’s a propagandist.
I’ve previously said the primetime lineup other than Hardball refuses to debate. It’s true. But even Chris tends to stick to the same safe conservatives. When he ventures out, he tends to get destroyed. That’s what happens when you’re only debate point is “you’re a racist cuz you don’t support big government”.
October 5, 2010 at 10:33 am
LS, you have lost your mind.
October 5, 2010 at 10:58 am
joeremi Says:
October 5, 2010 at 10:33 am
LS, you have lost your mind.
That’s jabberwocky!
October 5, 2010 at 11:27 am
Lonestar lost their mind a long time ago. It’s long gone, and rolling down the hill.
Bottom line: The ad may be something people won’t understand. It may be something the wing nuts make fun of. It may be something they use to identify MSNBC as more partisan. But, what people should understand is… that’s exactly what they want. They want people to make fun of them. They want the wing nuts to give them attention and burst out in laughter. Let them laugh… you’re not going to make those people happy regardless of what kind of ad campaign you run. They will hoot and holler about liberalism all day, but, at least, there is no smoke screen here. It’s straight forward, and there is no secret what they are.
Personally, I think the production of the ad is inspiring and shows great moments in the country’s history. As we can see, the only reference to the name of the network is at the very end with their logo. People might not notice that, and it might not get them excited to watch, but it will keep them curious as to what the network is about. As a poll recently shows, only 51% of people are familiar with the network, compared to 95% for Fox News, and 90% for CNN, I believe. So, while they should find a way to brag, they’re still keeping it simple.
Yes, INB, but it’s not a storytelling commercial. It’s an advertisement that is supposed to show MSNBC’s compassion for the country, not bragging about how amazing they are. Fox News and CNN might be in the business of saying they are the “number 1″ in this and that, but I don’t want the network I watch to brag about anything. For once, it would be nice to show a humble attitude.
I disagree. How is it not? Maybe the actual slogan isn’t honest or clear, but the abstract meaning I get from it is that they are, in fact, “leaning”, or looking, forward with progress. Learning from our past and getting better. Besides, Spike Lee directed these commercials, and he’s a genius in film making. Who better to be in control?
October 5, 2010 at 11:34 am
…compared to 95% for Fox News, and 90% for CNN, I believe.
Those numbers are backwards. Fox may get the ratings now, but one thing you’ll never take away from CNN is their ubiquity. The 5% who claim they’re not familiar with it are drunk or lying. Probably both.