What Madison Avenue’s Crystal Gazers See for the Coming New Year

In 1991, even the Pepsi Generation will gulp down a big swig of commercial reality.

Along with the rest of recession-fearing America, the soft drink advertiser is coming down to Earth. Its ads will rely far less on high-profile superstar singers such as Michael Jackson and Madonna and far more on special promotions such as its new soft drink cans and bottles that feature pictures of pear-shaped penguins and snow-boarding snowmen.

“Let’s face it,” said Philip B. Dusenberry, chairman of the New York office of BBDO Worldwide, the agency that creates Pepsi’s ads. “In 1991, advertising is going to be more promotional, more volume-driven and more response-oriented.”

This is anathema to most advertising executives. But in 1991, companies hungry for fast sales will have no time--or money--to hang their hats on advertised images that may or may not capture the public’s fancy. All they want to capture is more customers. And over the next year, this will be the chief task of every agency in America: Advertise specials that bring in business now.

Promotions can take many shapes. Right now, for example, major airlines are busy promoting two-for-one tickets and giant retailers are advertising second-to-none pre-Christmas sales of up to 50% off many items.

“Get ready to see ads that say ‘Buy my product today.’ And they won’t even say please,” said William Tragos, chairman of TBWA Advertising Inc., which creates ads for Absolut Vodka and Evian bottled water.

Any day now, according to Kenneth Olshan, chairman of the New York ad agency Wells, Rich, Greene, he half expects to see some department store ad that banners this headline: “All You Can Carry--$99.95!”

At the same time, advertisers will be handing their agencies less money but asking them to create more immediate results. “The economy is dictating to clients that they take this tack,” said Dusenberry. “There will be less risk-taking in advertising in 1991. In a recessionary environment, all clients will be working to make a dollar stretch further.”

Pepsi, for example, which has seldom been shy about spending $500,000 to create a commercial, recently spent about half of that to film a promotional ad for its so-called Winter Cool Can collection. The ad, which features swimmers hitting the water on a snow-blanketed beach, was filmed in two days. Pepsi often takes twice that long to film an ad.

Oh sure, Pepsi recently recruited popular rapper M. C. Hammer for a new commercial. But much of it was actually filmed at one of his concerts, and production costs paled in comparison to some of Pepsi’s Michael Jackson extravaganzas. Meanwhile, Pepsi’s current “Cool Can” promotion has plenty riding on it. A similar promotion over the summer boosted sales nearly 20%. “The challenge,” said Dusenberry, “is to be every bit as creative with less money.”

Pepsi has plenty of company. Remember when ads for ski resorts featured flashy photos of hot-shot skiers? Well, nearly half of a special eight-page ski advertising section in a recent issue of Newsweek was devoted solely to tips on how to pinch pennies while skiing. Meanwhile, the restaurant chain Red Lobster, which has long relied on image advertising, has a brand new campaign that exclusively promotes its dinners for $9.99.

Even McDonald’s, the biggest fast-food advertiser on Earth, last week handed a chunk of its advertising business to a second agency in hopes of boosting its sales. Ads that make people feel good are one thing. Ads that sell hamburgers--today--are another.

“Clients are clearly saying: ‘Don’t give me any cute advertising. It better sell, or you’re out of here,’ “said Graham Phillips, chairman of the New York ad agency Ogilvy & Mather, which creates ads for American Express and Seagrams. “Advertisers will be less esoteric and much more geared toward selling.”

Smart agencies are saying they don’t need $750,000 and four days to shoot commercials, said Robert H. Schmidt, chairman of the New York agency Levine, Huntley, Schmidt & Beaver, which creates ads for Subaru. “They’re saying they can produce good commercials for less than half of that.”

Indeed, advertisers will find it harder than ever to justify to stockholders spending even $250,000 to create an ad, said Amil Gargano, chairman of Ally & Gargano, the New York agency that creates ads for Jergens lotion and Newport cigarettes. And in 1991, ads must get results. “It’s time to put on the bare knuckles and get down to creating ads that say something.”

Just ask John M. Connors Jr., president of the Boston ad agency Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, which creates ads for Infiniti cars. His agency has completely abandoned its early attempts to equate the pricey Japanese imports with pastoral pictures of rocks and trees. Now, its ads exclusively show the sheet metal.

“We’re no longer in the advertising business,” said Connors, who longs for the days when creating good ads was considered paramount to quarterly results. “We’re in the business of advertising.”

Laguna Health Facility Seeks Christian Niche

Health-care marketers are always in search of new niches. Now, even religion has its niche in health care. And last week, a Christian-oriented treatment facility, New Life Treatment Centers of Laguna Beach, handed its $2-million advertising and public relations business to Irvine-based AC&R; Advertising.

The agency has already begun to create radio and TV spots featuring testimonials from patients recovering from alcohol and drug abuse. Many of the spots position the center as one that offers treatment in a “Christian setting.” Besides trained therapists, there are also pastors on the staff.

Jolting Invitation Features ’89 Quake

Several upstart San Francisco agencies have built their reputations living on the edge. But has one of them perhaps gone a step too far?

Invitations that promote an upcoming exhibition of advertisements by five San Francisco agencies were recently mailed to more than 1,000 people by New York’s One Club. “See the kind of work you do when every ad could be your last,” says a message on the outside of the invitation. Open the invitation, and there’s a photograph of the collapsed Nimitz Freeway that killed 42 people during the Bay Area Quake in October, 1989.

The invitation was prepared by Mandelbaum Mooney Ashley, one of the San Francisco agencies participating in the show. Is it in poor taste?

“There are no mangled cars or loose limbs in the picture,” said Mary Warlick, executive director of the One Club, whose membership includes 700 of advertising’s top art directors and copywriters. “Maybe advertisers are a jaded group, but we haven’t received any complaints.”

The Timely Choice of a News Generation

For Pepsi, it was the best of Time and the worst of Time.

The Dec. 3 issue of Time magazine included two news photos that featured people drinking Pepsi. Free advertising, right? Well, not all of it was the sort of advertising Pepsi wants.

In one graphic photo, a woman is shown holding a Pepsi bottle while another woman injects heroin into the neck of an addict in a Washington narcotics den. Meanwhile, in a photo just eight pages farther into the magazine, three cans of Pepsi are seen sitting on the lunch table while President George Bush dines with soldiers Thanksgiving Day in Saudi Arabia.

“I guess the point is, we’re an ubiquitous product,” said Pepsi spokesman Andrew Giangola. “You’re always looking for product visibility, but it isn’t always the kind you want.”