Marketing Magazine News

Ads under attack

Sun, 01 Jun 2008

Ads under attack
John Fanning questions the argument made by author Oliver James that advertising is a bad influence on society

Oliver James is a British clinical psychologist, the author of a number of popular books on the subject and a TV presenter, newspaper columnist and general man about the media when any subject you care to mention needs a psychological comment; which includes just about any subject you care to mention.

He is in the news because of two recently published books; Affluenza in 2007 and The Selfish Capitalist earlier this year. They are described as companion volumes with the former a big long sprawling account of a series of interviews with wealthy people worldwide and the latter a more academic attempt to draw the conclusions from the interviews into some form of theoretical conclusion.

The interviews in the first book come to the not entirely startling conclusion that many rich people lead deeply unsatisfying lives. With one bound, James therefore joins forces with one of the hottest publishing bandwagons of our time; the happiness issue, or more accurately the if Im that well off why amnt I happier. Economists in Wharton disprove the evidence for hitting a happiness ceiling.

Although the subject of happiness and the fulfilled life have been discussed ever since man emerged as homo erectus, it has taken on a renewed lease of life since the Nobel Prize for economics was awarded for the first time to a psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, in 2002 for his studies in hedonic psychology and was the subject of British peer Richard Layards Happiness: Lessons From a New Science.

Most of the literature on the subject concentrates on the seeming contradiction between the rise in GDP across the Western and much of the Eastern world and no corresponding rise in reported levels of well-being. Our own ESRIs valiant efforts last year to lead the cheers for Irelands economic transformation confronted the happiness issue by suggesting that although increases in GDP can go on forever, the environment permitting, increases in happiness invariably hit a ceiling.

They say "there is real doubt as to whether human beings are psychologically hard-wired in such a way as to enable them to sustain highly elevated levels of subjective well-being over a long time". Thats not a wildly optimistic conclusion but its a lot more encouraging than Oliver Jamess contention.

James believes that increased economic growth is likely to be accompanied by massively increased levels of depression and mental illness. His target is not economic growth per se but the type of economic growth posited by the neo-liberal agenda or the Washington Consensus, ushered in by the elections of Margaret Thatcher in the UK and Ronald Reagan in the US in the late 1970s.

They created a special type of capitalism, hence selfish capitalism, which was characterised by a severely diminished role for the state, an emphasis on individualism at the expense of community and an enhanced role and freedom for business. His main thesis is that selfish capitalism has resulted in an affluenza virus which by placing a high value on money, possessions, appearances and fame result in an orgy of shopping designed to fill the emptiness and loneliness from weakening communal values and replace the need for authentic intimate relationships with increased levels of consumption.

OPPOSED TO ADS

Oliver James, right, author of Affluenza and The Selfish Capitalist, with economist David McWilliams at the Marketing Society debate, Affluence v Affluenza. Speaking on Today with Pat Kenny, James called for ads with celebrities and supermodels to be banned as they make women feel inadequate.

Jamess secondary thesis is that the virus is far more virulent in the Anglo-American world than in continental Europe, especially the Nordic countries and the east. Given that we tend to follow the Anglo-American model, we can expect the worst; increased levels of stress, depression and mental illness. This writer is not entirely convinced by the argument as the statistical evidence is a little weak.

The word stress has the same effect on me as the word culture reputedly had on Herr Goebbels.

As far as Im concerned, stress is more of a human condition rather than a medical one. But in spite of these misgivings, we should pay some attention to these books. Firstly because like most of the output from this genre they are deeply suspicious of advertising and all forms of marketing communications and because even the most neo-liberally minded politician could be tempted to recommend a few advertising bans which will always be electorally popular.

Secondly, the most successful marketing communications are based on the most acute understanding of the spirit of the times and the current volume of publications on happiness/well being/life satisfaction may well lead people to question their purchasing behaviour and consumption patterns.

Brand Obama

Sun, 01 Jun 2008

A political phenomenon
Barack Obama has emerged not just as the Democratic nominee for US president but as an icon of 21st century brand management, writes Richard Delevan

Normally the truly hip denizens of adland heap scorn on political campaigns and their ham-fisted marketing tactics - and with good reason. Normally those tactics are pantomime versions of marketing tactics that were trendy in selling fast-moving consumer goods five years before the years election cycle.

It was 40 years ago that journalist Joe McGinnis wrote The Selling of the President, his access-all-areas account of how the team around Richard Nixon sold him like a brand of cigarettes. Before 1968, this would have been a scandalous idea. But after the assassinations, Vietnam, Watergate, why wouldnt you sell a politician like youd sell soap? At least youd have the illusion of feeling clean afterwards.

After four decades it would take a lot for a hot ad agency on a different continent to think it might have something to learn from a US political campaign. Which is why when I learned that Jimmy Murphys team at The Hive had decided to rip off a YouTube phenomenon, user-generated video for Barack Obama, I was intrigued.

Murphy was preparing to present credentials to a business bank seeking to target entrepreneurs, trying to reflect the idea that risk takers must often persevere against accepted wisdom, ignore the market and believe in their idea.

Murphy had for many years had what he calls an "armchair interest" in US politics, had read Obamas memoir, Dreams of My Father, and quite liked his politics. Then he saw the Yes, We Can video, which, if you havent seen, is either inspiring or slightly over-the-top and fascistic in its devotion to its candidates mantra.

Shot in black and white, featuring will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, actress Scarlett Johansson and other Obama supporting celebrities, its a mash-up with the speech Obama delivered on the night of the New Hampshire primary.

Murphy saw the video and it resonated. "You have to see this piece", some American friends wrote as they passed on a link to the YouTube video, which, at the time of writing, had been seen nearly 15 million times. "It really reflected the kind of mentality were talking about. Here we are, on the periphery of Europe, but in the last ten to 15 years weve been going out there, taking on the world," Murphy said.

So he and his Hive colleagues did their own version of the Yes, We Can video and presented it to the bank. The creds pitch is one of the most striking examples of how the Obama phenomenon has influenced an agency, but Brand Obama and the tactics that have gone into its creation have been a source of buzz among the creative classes on both sides of the Atlantic since last year.

Cover stories in business bibles like Fast Company, focusing on Obamas highly effective Web 2.0 social networking strategy, Ad Age writing meaty features about the campaigns visual language, a shocking number of articles following an NPR On the Media feature about the cool, sleek, sans serif typeface used by Obama.

DONOR INTRIGUE

Barack Obamas strategy of going for donors making an average gift of under $100, paid big dividends. In contrast, Hillary Clinton relied on big donations for her campaign, cultivated through her husband Bills two terms in the White House.

Its called Gotham, derived from hand-painted signs in New York in the 1940s, originally developed a few years ago for GQ magazine. For her campaign, Clinton favoured a clunky serif font that is a throwback to the early 1980s.

"Barack Obama is three things you want in a brand," Keith Reinhard, chairman emeritus of DDB Worldwide, told Fast Company. "New, different, and attractive. Thats as good as it gets." Even if it hasnt attracted more imitators, the US election campaign has certainly attracted fans in Irish adland.

Pearse McCaughey of Cawley Nea\TBWA, who has worked on Fianna Fail campaigns in the past, said it was the most exciting race he has ever seen and he has been fascinated by proceedings since the hustings got underway.

Perhaps even more impressive for the new media-savvy creative director has been the Obama campaigns matching of tactics to audience. "Obama is probably the first real contender whos actually managed to understand new media - now media - and used that very effectively," McCaughey said. "Hes understood the power of the internet, the power of texts. To raise money, to get people out to vote."

"He understands that an awful lot of his audience is defining themselves by how they use these tools - my time on Facebook, my relationship with my Blackberry. With me its a tool at the most. Its an irritation I cant wait to turn off. A generation below me theyre essential to who they are, staying in contact with friends and relatives. He understood that, and its resulted in his success - especially at raising money."

Perhaps it is this that has so many twittering. Obama has raised more money than any other candidate in history, from more donors than any candidate in history - over 1.5 million donors - with an average donation below $100. It has given him a decisive advantage over Clinton, who has relied on big donors cultivated through her husbands two terms in the White House, many giving the legal maximum.

Obama is a walking case study for Chris Andersons internet economics theory, The Long Tail - which argued that the internet transforms previously uneconomic niche products into profitable winners. Obama has done this in three ways, tapping so many small donors with virtually zero cost of sales, efficiently harnessing the energy of so many volunteers, and even turning enough victories in small states ignored by his opponent into a majority.

The fundraising success itself is owed in no small measure to tactics that build a brand community as part of the experience. Breaking with lifelong tradition of taking money from candidates rather than giving to them, I donated to the Obama campaign. Within minutes, I received an email telling me the name of a person in Georgia who had matched my donation and offered to put me in email contact with my matching donor, who then emailed herself to thank me personally.

A couple of days later I was solicited by email asking if Id match someone else for the same amount Id already given and if my email could be given to the new donor. Multiply by one million and you get the idea.

Obamas strongest support has come from the 18-29 age cohort, called Millennials. The online savvy is due largely to Chris Hughes, 24, who just four years ago was at Harvard University helping his roommate, Mark Zuckerberg, launch Facebook.

Hughes was an early volunteer on the Obama campaign and helped develop their web strategy, including the campaigns social networking website. But much like patterns of traffic on the web itself, enthusiasm for Obama seems to come in waves.

If his brand was initially positioned as a post-racial, transcendent figure, as the contest with Clinton has ground on, it subjected his brand values to severe stress. The re-emergence of his controversial ex-pastor Jeremiah Wright plus his electoral weakness among the sort of West Virginia folk Clinton described as "hard-working Americans, white Americans" cast some doubts.

It brings into sharp relief the half-whispered question of the 2008 campaign, "Is America really ready for a black president?"

Stuart Fogarty of McConnells acknowledges Obamas strengths but wonders if they are enough, or as authentic as they seem. "Sometimes a politician will tap into a mood for commercial purposes, to get elected," Fogarty said, "When they sense a mood, a shift in consumer behaviour, an appetite for change, they go for it.

CHALLENGER BRAND

Barack Obama during a debate with Hillary Clinton. Like Apple Mac, Obama is perceived as the challenger brand attracting a niche market while Clinton is seen as the old-style, dogged and ruthless rival

"Barack is a slogan, an attention-grabber. Barack talks about change, but its slogan not substance. Hes very packaged, very advertising. I dont think theres a lot to him. Hes intended to be emotional rather than functional. Hes a brand."

McCaughey agrees to an extent but draws a different conclusion. "No, hes not appealing on rationally, its really projecting a brand. It probably owes more to being built on social networks, more bottom up than top down." In McCaugheys tentative view, that makes Obama stronger.

If there is a brand battle that serves as a good analogy for the Obama v Clinton phase of the campaign, it is usually compared to Mac v the PC. Obama, the cool challenger brand, attracting a powerful niche customer base, versus the old-fashioned, relentless and ruthless incumbent. Obama fans tend to flinch at the comparison. Mac, after all, has a tiny percentage of the market by comparison.

If Obama does enter the White House next year, it may well be because his campaigns brand-building, especially online, has managed either to overcome reservations among some white voters about a black president, or to assemble a coalition of niche audience segments who do not share that concern.

But the sort of euphoric optimism that the Obama brand generated in its early phase certainly doesnt win over all it touches. In the end, the business bank to which The Hive presented its Yes, We Can creds decided to go elsewhere.

"We got some feedback from someone in the room," said Murphy. "One of the clients, after we left, said, thats all great and everything, but its a little wide-eyed and fluffy. Too naive for the real world? Its a bit like asking us to buy a Mac."

Murphy is undeterred. He thinks the optimistic tone may well resonate with another prospect. If Obama wins in November, optimism itself may make a comeback.

Richard Delevan (rdelevan@gmail.com) is a journalist and consultant, www.richarddelevan.com

Highly Political

Sun, 01 Jun 2008

Still eager to probe

Vincent Browne has been one of Irelands most prolific journalists and publishers. Controversy has befriended him down the years but writing about equality in society is what stirs him most. He spoke with Michael Cullen

Were you surprised when RTE dropped your late night radio show and decided against renewing your contract?

I wasnt surprised but I was disappointed. The reason I wasnt surprised was that in the summer of 2006 the report of the Abbeylara Tribunal was published. It had been my view all along and remains my view that RTEs conduct during the course of the siege, as it was called, which resulted in the killing of John Carthy, was widely irresponsible.

It fitted into their agenda of hyping anything to do with crime or security. This story was essentially about a poor man, suffering from a mental illness, undergoing some personal trauma, in a house on his own, no threat to anybody, down in Abbeylara.

The media should have left him alone and the Garda should have largely left him alone, there should have been a light Garda presence. But RTE led their news bulletins about this so-called siege and continued on that throughout that evening and the following day.

What RTE did stimulated other media, local radio in particular. Its certainly true that John Carthy listened to other media and its not believeable that that didnt put further pressure on him. In any event, when the Abbeylara report was published, I revived this point which Id raised several times on radio, with RTE management.

I put questions to them. Meanwhile, Id published a strong critique of RTE in Village and in the next issue I referred to their replies to my criticisms. Arising from the criticisms,

I was told I was in breach of my contract. In the last two years of my contract, I never once received a tittle of feedback from any RTE official, even though I sought feedback.

How did the TV3 Nightly News With Vincent Browne come about?

What happened was that I knew the writing was on the wall with RTE well in advance of my contract expiring - it was perfectly obvious. So I put out feelers to a number of places. TV3 came back to me quickly and we did a deal. That was it.

Are you happy youre allowed stamp your personality on the programme?

I hope thats not what its about. There are logistical but no editorial problems when you are starting up a programme like this. Id done TV before with RTE but had done it badly. But this time I got excellent training from TV3, Andrew Hanlon (head of news) in particular.

(He smiles at the mention of the show drawing an older audience to TV3). Yes and TV3 allowed me to do the Ireland AM programme for a week and it lost loads of listeners!

In the seat of TV3s Nightly News With Vincent Browne

Has too much editorialising crept into Irish journalism?

Well, theres two things there. Of course theres editorialising in opinion columns, thats the point of them. But there isnt a range of opinions out there. Primarily, opinions here are right wing, though the perception is they are too liberal and left of centre. With regards to reporting generally, its not fair to say theres too much opinion in Irish media.

Do you still have a five per cent stake in The Sunday Tribune?

I dont know! I have some shareholding because I get the annual report and get invited to the agm and promise myself to go to it on some occasions.

Do you regret whats happened to the Sunday Tribune over recent years?

I regret the Indo got control of it and the complete mess they made of it commercially.

I find it amusing that the Sunday Independent, which is the mouthpiece of those who want to attack the critics of OReilly, goes on about monies. The Tribune was making money when I was chief executive and it was the only time.

From the moment the Indo got control of it and got involved, the thing has been a disaster. They lost Euro8 million in 18 months, which is some doing, its Euro100,000 a week over a period of time and Im told thats an underestimate.

Has the paper been used by IN&M as a buffer against the threat of UK imports?

I assume that was the rationale but it hasnt worked as a buffer. The Sunday Times has done well and it has a much higher circulation and readership than the Sunday Tribune.

Noirin Hegarty has done well as Tribune editor and the paper has done well with the likes of Justine McCarthy, Michael Clifford and Shane Coleman.

Do you dislike Independent Newspapers?

No. The Irish Independent has been a good newspaper for a long time. When Vinnie Doyle was editor he did a fine job and while its unpopular to say so, Gerry ORegan has been a good editor. The Sunday Independent is an appalling newspaper and in many ways a journalistic disgrace, but thats a side issue. The London Independent is a fine paper. Ive been critical of OReilly because with his dominance in the Irish market he uses his newspapers to advance his other corporate interests.

You had a piece in Village recently where you slammed Eamon Dunphys article in The Irish Times where he sided with Tony OReilly against Denis OBrien...

I thought it was a job application for Dunphy to return to the Indo. Dunphy... hes not really worth talking about (gestures with his hand in a dismissive manner).

Was the Dublin Tribune a mistake in that it was too ambitious for its time, too much of a quality paper to be given away free?

I dont think so. I was editor of the Sunday Tribune at the time and chief executive of the company. We had brought the Sunday Tribune to profitability at the end of the eighties -the only time incidentally that the paper has ever been profitable. Its been a total commercial disaster since the Independent took it over and made its appointments.

But I was conscious at the time the Sunday Tribune was vulnerable to downturns in advertising because of the high cost base of a standalone operation and the kind of editorial it had, including sports material. I was keen that we become part of a larger group and I tried very hard for The Irish Times to take us over.

Or, for the Crosbie (Examiner) group to take us over. I spoke with Ralph Ingersoll, who was involved in the Irish Press group at the time. But that didnt happen. Id seen the success of free newspapers abroad, like Ingersolls involvement in St Louis and other places in America. I thought a quality free newspaper would work here if done properly.

The reason was there was a fragmented print market here at the time. Of course, its even more fragmented now. TV was becoming fragmented with stations coming in from abroad, TV3 wasnt then in existence. The radio market was becoming fragmented.

Advertisers were finding it hard to get through to this new fragmented market. I thought the Dublin ABC1 was a prime audience for advertisers to attempt to access and the idea was the Dublin Tribune would provide that market, easily and relatively cheaply.

Looking back on it, a number of mistakes were made. First of all, we were unlucky.

Within a few months of the paper starting in June of 1990, there was a recession arising from Saddam Husseins invasion of Kuwait. But we didnt have the capital to keep it going at times of difficulties. Nor did we have the management manpower to make it work, without doing damage to the Sunday Tribune.

To some extent, we were betting the company on it which was a mistake, my mistake. The idea of the Dublin Tribune was essentially good but we didnt have the resources to do it and we shouldnt have done it because of that.

What do you think of Metro and Herald AM?

Theyre not targeted in the way I intended the Dublin Tribune to be targeted and which was going to be localised with news and ABC1. Theyre not as good.

Are you a workaholic?

(Laughs) I waste a lot of time and have diverse interests. Sport (rugby especially) and all the stuff. I dont play golf. You cant have a life and play golf.

Sail in the summer?

I dont, unfortunately. I pretended to learn to sail once for a radio programme on RTE.

Are you at ease with technology - the internet, social sites etc. Or are you a Luddite?

I use the internet a lot. Its changed journalism significantly, in ways that havent been properly appreciated. Because of the difficulties there used to be in getting access to information, there had be investigative journalism, which relied mainly on getting information from people rather than from documents.

Now, the vast amount of documents that are available through official government sites is just enormous. Its a question of making sense of those and knowing where to find them and what to find. The documents are far more reliable than people. Im not saying people necessarily tell lies but naturally that memories and perceptions can be faulty.

The challenge of journalism now is making sense of this vast amount of information available on the internet. That, to a large extent, is what journalism has turned into. Of course, you still get tip offs from people on matters of importance.

You were once a member of Fine Gael?

I joined Fine Gael in the early Sixties and the reason I did was because it wasnt Fianna Fail. There was no Labour party in UCD then. Declan Costellos Just Society appealed to me. But almost from the start, I was out of sympathy with Fine Gael.

Wasnt your family in Limerick Fine Gael?

My mothers family was Fianna Fail. My fathers family was split between FF and FG.

Youve long been a target of the Phoenix...

Yes, they regarded me as a rival from day one, which I was. I started Magill in October 1977, a short time after the Phoenix. For pretended journalistic reasons but really for commercial reasons, they have attacked me from the outset.

Is Denis OBrien good for Irish media?

Denis gave me my first break in radio. He asked me would I do a programme on 98FM back in 1996 and I agreed to do so, arising from which I went on to do a programme for RTE for 11 years. So Id be biased in his favour on that account, if not other accounts. Ive known him since 1983 when he was personal assistant to Tony Ryan, who was involved with me in re-launching the Sunday Tribune that year.

I met Denis OBrien recently and he referred to a programme I did at 98FM at which I "ranted", as he said, about government issuing only one mobile phone licence at the time that his company got it. My view was that awarding one licence was setting someone up and they should have engaged in proper competition and awarded several licences.

Let them all have a go at it and that would have been better. Also, I was of the view that the state should get a hefty royalty fee which didnt happen. Denis never objected at the time, which is fairly impressive given that here I was advocating a line that was entirely contrary to his commercial interests. Youd never see that in Independent Newspapers.

Does the standard of Irish media compare well with overseas?

I think it does. The Irish Times, Irish Independent are good newspapers. The Irish Mail and the Star do some good stuff. The Sunday Tribune and Sunday Business Post are good. On the broadcast front, RTE is very strong with Morning Ireland as the agenda setter. Tubridys show has improved and is more focused. Pat Kenny is a superb broadcaster... he talks less and answers and his own questions less.

Sean ORourke on the One OClock News and Marian Finucane are first-class. Newstalk is trying hard but its got problems obviously competing against such a dominant player in the market. RTE has been around a long time.

Is politics a noble profession?

It shouldnt be a profession at all, either noble or ignoble. Politics itself should be about people deciding what kind of society were going to have, how resources in society should be distributed, what restrictions and liberties there should be...

But if I might challenge the question. Theres such a thing as the political class and thats wrong. Weve a political elite to which we sub-contract political decisions. Thats not what democracy should be about at all. The citizens should be sovereign.

Weve only a fake representation of democracy. Every five years the citizens can vote for one crowd offering one pot pourri of policies or another pot pourri of personalities offering something else. They should be real self-governors rather than sub-contractors.

People are said to have given their lives for the vote. Its pointless, other than stemming outright corruption, This isnt democracy at all. Its not surprising young people are apathetic. Theyve nothing to be turned on about. They need to be involved in decisions.

Is that because all the parties have moved to the centre, or further right?

They are all right of centre. Theres no difference. Fianna Fail, Fine Gael... Brian Cowen or Bertie Ahern. This crowd of ministers, or the last crowd.

One of Aherns achievements was making Fianna Fail the party of coalition government, Itll be difficult to form a government in the future without Fianna Fail being part of it.

Would you encourage young people to enter politics?

I wouldnt encourage anyone to get involved in politics, its a complete waste of time.

What people should be doing is encouraging direct democracy.

Are our politicians paid enough?

They get massively paid, its ridiculous. The average wage in society is Euro34,000. Our politicians are paid four times on average. How could they be representative of the average citizen? Everyone whos paid above the average and multiples of the average are paid far too much, including myself and yourself. We have a hugely unequal society.

Do you regret not standing for Fine Gael?

Ill tell you what happened. In 1994, after Id been removed from the Sunday Tribune, John Bruton contacted me and asked me would I stand for the party as an MEP. Id known John Bruton from my university days and I was surprised at the suggestion.

I said Id think about. Within a few hours, Id decided it was daft. I told him no. He was concerned that it would become known that hed made an offer, that Id said no and this would reflect badly on him as there was a heave against him in Fine Gael at the time.

Nothing came out about this but it was leaked that Id been offered this. In November 1994, when it looked as though there might be a general election when Albert Reynoldss government was falling apart, we again discussed the possibility of me standing as a Fine Gael candidate. I made it clear to him that it wouldnt be on due to policy differences.

Arent you a big fan of Fine Gael?

I think I voted for Fine Gael twice in my life. Once was in the Eighties and I was living in Dublin South constituency. I had a row with John Kelly (former FG deputy and attorney general) and we made it up and I said Id vote for him in the next election and I did.

The other time was and similarly I had a row with Sean Barrett (FG deputy) in Dun Laoghaire and Id moved there at this stage. I said the same thing to him and I kept my promise. I never voted Fine Gael again, except on those two occasions. I voted once for Fianna Fail, in 1977 and since then for Richard Boyd-Barrett or some left winger first.

Would you regard yourself as a socialist?

I would, yes.

A true socialist or a Bertie Ahern-style socialist?

I hope not (laughing).

Is Ireland a better country since the economic upturn - the Celtic Tiger?

The Celtic Tiger was hugely beneficial to the country in so many respects. The employment growth and the transformation of Dublin, the citys so much better now.

Theres been spin-offs in other areas.

But we have left behind people massively and we dont care. It doesnt feature at all in any political agenda. One of the consequences of this, which is really quite devastating and nobody pays any attention to this, is that the mortality rate of the people in the lower socio-economic groups is far, far higher in respect of all the major diseases.

Ruth Barrington, the former head of the Health Research Bureau, estimated that because of the inequality in this society about 5,300 die prematurely every year. This is 14 times the number of people who die on our roads and 16 times the number who commit suicide.

While writing about the DCC-Fyffes insider trader case in your column in The Irish Times, you claimed that theres one form of justice for high-powered business executives and another for ordinary citizens. Do you really believe that?

Its perfectly obvious. In the case of DCC, there was a fraud of Euro80 million. Simple fraud, which is a crime. A woman went to jail recently for not paying Euro318 for a Sky dish.

Does the inequality in society help Sinn Fein?

Sinn Fein has gone walkabout. What do Sinn Fein stand for now that they dont stand for a bit of violence any more? The united Ireland stuff is out the window and theyve accepted that. The may as well join the PDs, or the PDs join them.

Have the Progressive Democrats served a purpose?

They certainly did, in targeting every vulnerable group in society and getting at them and making life more miserable for them. Theyve been a cancer in Irish society. There are lots of fine things about Des OMalley. I like Mary Harney, personally. But the PDs targeted single mothers in 1997, then Travellers, refugees, asylum seekers, the poor.

Are they now a spent force?

I hope so, theyre a pernicious force.

Who do admire in Irish politics?

(Long pause) Joe Higgins, obviously... Michael D (Higgins). I admire a lot of people like Eamon Ryan, John Gormley, Trevor Sargent... I like Enda Kenny.

You successfully sued the State for tapping your phone?

I got 94,000 for my phone being tapped for eight years. The tapping was first instigated by Patrick Cooney, Minister for Justice in the Liam Cosgrave government in 1975. The deal was they would pay me the money and there was no suggestion that I was involved in any criminality or paramilitarism. The State regarded it as legitimate to tap my phone because I was in touch with paramilitaries at the time. When I saw the transcripts in 1980, I discovered that security was not the reason for tapping my phone - it might have been initially - but it expired pretty quickly - it was for political reasons.

Either Charlie Haughey wanted to know what I planned to write about him or - and in my view this is more likely - his opponents in Fianna Fail would know what was due to come out as they prepared to launch a coup against him.

Is there less of an audience for investigative reportage now and more competition for other newspapers with supplements etc ?

When we published Magill back in the Seventies and Eighties we had sales of around 30,000 and the same after I revived it in 1997 it gain had a circulation of 30,000. I presumed it would apply to Village. Weve had a rough time and lost a lot of money.

My only backer, Michael Smith, lost about Euro260,000 and I lost in the region of Euro1.2 million. Village is going to be a marginal exercise but we can make money on contract publishing and we should make significant money on the website.

You changed Village from a newspaper to a magazine format. Why/

We started off with a tabloid format. That proved a mistake as we were put on the floor of newsagents and other publications were then put on top of Village. We were invisible and so we changed to a magazine format. Advertisers prefer a glossy magazine.

Is society happier to see contentious issues hidden, to keep a lid on controversy?

The truth is I dont know. Most people havent a clue. Journalists are the worst offenders.

Do you see advertising as worthy or is it merely a necessary evil in media generally?

Oh God no! Advertising is letting people know whats available and giving them choices.

There was only one occasion when I felt pressure from an advertiser. Back in 1997, we had done a contract publishing venture for AIB and I hoped to do it again the next year.

I went out to AIB Bankcentre to have lunch with some people. At the time I was working on a story on how the Revenue had ignored a file showing that AIB defrauded on DIRT. I was admiring the gardens and my host offered me a tour. I told her about the story. She was outraged. I missed out on the garden tour. But we did business with AIB again.

Why did you eulogise Charles Haughey when he died after all your condemnation of him when he was alive?

I didnt eulogise him. I wrote affectionately about him.

Was that not revisionism on your part?

No, not at all. I was surprised by what the Sunday Times wrote. People in power should be challenged when they are in power and I challenged Charlie Haughey, unlike others in Irish journalism.

Maverick is a word often used to describe you, how would you define yourself.

Maverick sounds fine.

When will you retire and spend more time tending your roses?

The Roses of Tralee?!

Safety Messages

Sun, 01 Jun 2008

Safety messages

David Lyle and Julie Anne Bailie explain the rationale behind the awarding-winning road safety campaigns

Research shows that the road safety TV ads are one of the top three most influential factors in reducing road carnage, alongside Garda enforcement and new road traffic laws. Advertising never works on its own but is designed to work in combination with enforcement to change attitudes and behaviour.

In tracking research, 82 per cent of adults rate the RSAs road safety TV ads as an influential factor in saving lives. There are three reasons why the advertising works. Firstly, there is a rigorous evidence-based methodology which is data-led, research-led and psychology-led. Secondly, the use of psychological creativity to emotionally engage people. Emotional engagement is key. Thirdly, the strategic use of shock to encode long-term emotional memory.

People can be used be disturbed by the graphic images used in ads. But if we dont disrupt and disturb, people stay oblivious to the dangers on the roads. The road is the most dangerous place the average person goes daily. But the public supports the use of disturbing images.

In research, most people agree that the use of disturbing images is necessary for road safety. Even people who have lost members of their family as a result of road tragedy, without exception say that while the ads are difficult for them to watch, it is vital that they are screened to prevent other families having to go through what they did.

The road safety ads score highly among young people, achieving some of the best recall and influence scores in the market. Independent qualitative research also confirms that the young people in Ireland are highly engaged by the ads. They need to be confronted with reality. They have to be shocked and for that to happen they are must be drawn in by a narrative which allows them no escape.

Young viewers are among the most highly literate when it comes to advertising and the most cynical. So, you cant afford to get it wrong. They are a testing audience which, when it comes to road safety, will reject any type of abstract symbolism or patronising in favour of what they know to be the truth.

This works its way right through the ads, even to how we wardrobe the cast. Young people notice everything. They have seen every action film and played every video game that counts so the experiences we offer have to match.

Young people know that if they didnt wear their seatbelt in the back seat they can become a multiple killer. If they didnt accept this Ireland would not have quadrupled its back seatbelt wearing rates which has led to the highest ever recorded seatbelt wearing rates, North and South.

Males aged 17-24 are the most over-represented group as victims and drivers responsible for road carnage. But we always have broader secondary target audiences and the primary target can change depending on the problem.

To date, there have been 75 quantitative surveys independently conducted by Millward Brown, plus 624 focus groups. Some 91,367 people have been interviewed in the Republic and 89,173 in Northern Ireland, so we reckon road safety is one of the most researched and tested campaigns in the market.

From the research we have written a portfolio of case studies, winning a total of 26 effectiveness awards from independent juries. Our seatbelts case study won the IAPI ADFX Grand Prix for Effectiveness and a European Effie in Brussels.

Psychology is pivotal when it comes to the development and production of the campaigns. Since 1993, we have been the only advertising agency to have a psychology research unit headed up by a full-time psychology director.

The agency has a psychological testing system which we use in conjunction with other forms of research to test the work before it ever goes on air. Road safety is a highly complex area. There is no simple, quick-fix solution when it comes to identifying the key motivational triggers; many issues run deep.

The superficiality of what people say is not enough. We need to penetrate behind the facade to get to the real truth of how people feel across every single area of road safety. Only when we have identified those psychological triggers that will really make a difference and change peoples attitudes and behaviour do we even begin to think about how best to communicate them. We employ various psychological techniques to continually test the ads for reactions and wearout.

The road safety campaigns have to get into peoples heads in Ireland, their hearts, their homes, their conversations, their relationships. The only way to achieve this is to understand fully the psychology which lies behind what they think and do - and why they do it.

Speeding is the single biggest determinant of the outcome of a crash, of whether someone lives or dies, so reducing speed is vital. The problem with alcohol is that its impairment begins with the first drink - well below the current legal limit. Our message has always been Never ever drink and drive.

Around Euro7.5 million North and South is spent on the campaigns. Road safety ads achieve scores in the 80-90 per cent ranges for awareness and influence.

David Lyle and Julie Anne Bailie head up the strategic and creative team responsible for the road safety TV ads in Ireland for both the Road Safety Authority and DOE

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