Just hanging out...waiting for 1pm

It's Friday, and it's also a long weekend! The main agency is closed today, but we at MEDIABRANDS are stuck here until 1pm. Everything has been trafficked. Talent has been reported and paid. My phone hasn't rang all morning. Not even once!

We'll get back into it next week, but for now all I can think about is sitting in the sunshine, and eating something hot off the bbq.
I hope you all enjoy the extended time off with friends and family.
xo

Hard at work int he Traffic Department.

Have a nice weekend!

Running Late?

Most outrageous reasons people give for being late to work

CareerBuilder conducted its annual survey of hiring managers. The results include the top four most common excuses for tardiness:

· Traffic, 31%

· Lack of sleep, 18%

· Bad weather, 11%

· Getting kids to school or daycare, 8%

No surprises there. The fun began when CareerBuilder asked hiring managers to provide the most outrageous excuses given by employees for being late. CareerBuilder shares the ten best answers:

1. Employee’s cat had the hiccups.

2. Employee thought she had won the lottery (she didn’t).

3. Employee got distracted watching the TODAY Show.

4. Employee’s angry roommate cut the cord to his phone charger, so it didn’t charge and his alarm didn’t go off.

5. Employee believed his commute time should count toward his work hours.

6. Employee claimed a fox stole her car keys.

7. Employee’s leg was trapped between the subway car and the platform (turned out to be true).

8. Employee said he wasn’t late because he had no intention of getting to work before 9:00 a.m. (his start time was 8:00 a.m.)

9. Employee was late because of a job interview with another firm.

10. Employee had to take a personal call from the state governor (turned out to be true).

OH NO......

If you’re a traffic coordinator or account executive, it’s your worst nightmare…

Sitting at home, relaxing after a crazy day at the office. Perhaps even enjoying a nice adult beverage. Time to watch some TV!

Click on over to a good “reality” show that makes you happy to eat popcorn instead of bugs, and… wait a minute! What was that?!?! That commercial shouldn’t be airing! That offer ended! The spot’s not in a paid talent cycle! Why does it sounds so awful and the grass is BLUE?? NOOOOOOO!

Ugh. Hopefully the client didn’t see that.

It happens to all of us, because mistakes happen. Sometimes a revision doesn’t get on the air in time, or sometimes there’s a technical problem with the audio or video that needs to be fixed. Sometimes a spot get put on the air and the talent hasn’t been paid yet.

The best thing to do in this situation is to take note of the channel and program you’re watching and the time you saw the suspect commercial.

Then, in the morning, the trouble-shooting begins.

Are the traffic instructions correct, so the right spot was scheduled for broadcast? If not, a revision needs to be sent to all stations on the buy immediately, and some begging may be in order.

If the campaign was trafficked correctly and if the station ran the wrong spot by mistake, or if it was a technical issue with the picture/sound, use the notes from the night before to contact your traffic coordinator, who can call or email the station directly to get the problem fixed.

It’s pretty crucial to  make sure you know the time, program and station you’re watching if you see something on the air that doesn’t look quite right. Without that information, it’s almost impossible to follow up and correct the problem. We do get calls from clients or agency folk, saying “I was watching tv last week and I think I saw/heard the wrong spot running. I can’t remember the program or the night, but I’m pretty sure it was the wrong commercial” and in that scenario it’s difficult for us to help fix the problem.

Most of the time, TV-watching is the fun, relaxing pastime it’s meant to be. On the rare occasions when the wrong commercial airs or the right one looks funny, give your favourite traffic person a call to get the problem solved. (And maybe keep a notepad on the coffee table, just in case.)

FRIDAY AFTERNOON REVISIONS

UGH! It's almost 5pm and I just found out that I have to revise material that is to air next week. I just had to send out a revision. Thank you to all of my station friends for understanding that these decisions are not made by the traffic department and for not shooting the messenger.
Enjoy your weekend everyone!

STANLEY CAME TO VISIT!

USE OF THE CANADIAN MAPLE LEAF IN TV COMMERCIALS

Here’s another one we came across the other day.  We are developing a campaign for one of our clients for a product that is strongly identified as a Canadian tradition and there are quite a few images of the Maple Leaf in the advertisement.

Any use of the 11-point Maple Leaf or the Canadian Flag images must be approved by the Department of Canadian Heritage prior to broadcast.  Our government holds these symbols in high regard, as “symbols of Canada, and a celebration of what we are as people”.  We have to be careful not to use these symbols in any way that would be considered disrespectful or derogatory.  To gain permission contact the Program Officer at the Department of Canadian Heritage: info@pch.gc.ca

ADVERTISING DIRECTED AT CHILDREN

Children’s advertising is strictly regulated and, unlike other categories, all advertisements directed to children are reviewed by a committee consisting of industry and public representatives. 

This committee meets every other Monday throughout the year. Commercials submitted for review must be fully complete and ready for air. Once the committee has completed their review, they issue an ASC KIDS clearance number, which is valid for one year.   This clearance number is required, in addition to TVB and CBC approvals, for all TV campaigns that include media weight in Children’s programming.

In the province of Quebec, the general rule is no advertising can be directed to children at all.

The ASC BROADCAST CODE FOR ADVERTISING TO CHILDREN (CHILDREN’S  CODE) has the most strict regulations of all the categories for review.  It was developed to recognize and respect the special characteristics of children as an audience. Reasoning behind such strict regulations is that children, especially very young children, can’t distinguish between reality and imagination (fantasy) and therefore advertisers must be extremely careful with their messages.

 Here are some highlights from the Children’s Code:

1)      All presentations must be factual, and must not exaggerate the properties of the product.  You can’t show a Buzz Lightyear toy flying through the air on it’s own if the child can’t make this happen (if it’s not a flying toy).

2)      The relative size of the product must be accurately established. You can’t make the toy look bigger than it actually is. This is often established by showing a child playing with the toy.

3)      No advertising directed at children can directly urge the child to purchase or to ask their parents to purchase.  Call to action lines like “go see the new Princess movie” are unacceptable. You must rephrase with a line such as “you can go see the new Princess movie”.

4)      Any contests or promotions must not exceed one-half of the advertisement. If you are advertising a kid’s meal that contains a toy or a cereal that features a toy or giveaway, you must be careful to ensure that at least half of the commercial is about the product (the meal/cereal) and the give-away is not the main message.

5)      Any characters well known to children cannot endorse or be used to promote the product. This includes puppets, cartoon characters and sports figures. If you are advertising a kids’ movie, you can’t have one of the characters from the movie talking about how good it is.

6)      The way advertised items can be purchased must be made clear, with a mention of any additional required components. For example – “batteries sold separately” or “game and system sold separately”.

7)      Comparison claims are not allowed. You can’t insinuate that your product is better than a competitors. Also you can’t imply that a new or next-generation product is better than the original or last year’s model.

8)      Social values must be consistent with moral, ethical and legal standards of Canadian society. You can’t show a child being disrespectful to his parents or his teacher or exhibiting bad behavior in order to get the product being advertised.  This is a pretty standard clause for all radio and television advertising in Canada, but there is no leeway in this regard when it comes to kid’s advertising.

9)      Advertisements must not imply that possession or use of the product makes the owner superior or that without it the child will be open to ridicule or contempt. For instance, you can’t show a playground scene where one child is ostracized for not having the new “cool” toy, or looking dejected because he doesn’t have one.

Because of the strict nature of this category, it’s best that concepts be reviewed at the early script development stage so any potential infractions can be revised before ideas have been sold to a client or production dollars have been spent. ASC is always happy to weigh in on storyboards or any initial rough ideas, and they keep all such material strictly confidential.

IT'S ANOTHER SHORT WEEK (AND I'M NOT COMPLAINING)

Because some of the agencies we service were closed yesterday, it's another short week. Even though we were open for business, it was a very very quiet day. So quiet in fact, that it was a good day to get caught up on filing, and paperwork, and a great opportunity to do some overall tidying up.

Although, I must admit, we get so little "down time" that when it's not very busy it becomes extra hard to get motivated to do paperwork!
However, yesterday is now a distant memory, and it's back to the matters at hand. We now have one less day to get material, scheduling and instructions to our station partners.
I guess we have some work to do!

AGENCY PERKS-SUMMER HOURS & EXTRA-LONG HOLIDAY WEEKENDS

A couple of the great things about working in advertising are the Summer Hours or Long Weekend policies.

For some agencies, Summer Hours mean that from mid-June until mid-September the office opens ½ hour early Monday to Thursday, but on Fridays the office closes at 1pm. It’s worth starting your day at 8:30 when you can look forward to sunny Friday afternoons out of the office.

 Other agencies choose to add an extra day to every long weekend, year-round, instead. For instance, if Friday is the statutory holiday, then the office is also closed on the following Monday.  If the holiday falls on Monday, the office is closed as of 5pm on the Thursday leading up to the long weekend. Yippee to that idea!

Our organization is a bit more complicated. Our traffic department services more than one agency, and the agencies we work with do not all follow the same schedule.  Some of our agencies have the 1pm Summer Hour closing, and some have the extended long weekend.

It’s a conundrum for us. We can’t be closed when our agency partners are working.  So we can’t leave early on Fridays when our agency partners are in for the full day and we can’t takan extra long-weekend day if the agency we work with is open for business.

It would be nice if our agencies could pick one or the other (1pm Fridays or extended long weekends) and all be on the same page. However, such is life and we have to roll with the punches. We just quietly work amongst ourselves to cover each other’s desks and take a few hours out of the office whenever our workload permits.

We certainly can’t complain too much, since most people with grownup jobs work 9-5 workdays all year long. Plus, when the sun is shining, we have a beautiful lakefront boardwalk nearby where we can spend the occasional lunch hour. Bring on the summer weather!

13 SIMPLE STEPS TO GET YOU THROUGH A ROUGH DAY

Here's a cute one that I got from BUZZFEED.COM.

STEP 1- Print this picture and hang it over your desk:

STEP 2- Be uplifted by this inspiring Corgi Cross Stitch:

STEP 3- Feel Pretty:

STEP 4-Imagine that you are this penguine:

STEP 5- Feel empowered:

STEP 6- Remember that these dogs are on your side:

STEP 7- And this dog with a goat will fight for you as well:

STEP 8- Be happy you aren't one of these people:

STEP 9- Be happy that these aren't your taco shells:

STEP 10- Hey Johnny Depp had to iron his grilled cheese sandwiches too!

STEP 11- Allow yourself to enjoy these pictures of dogs:

STEP 12- Look at this cat riding a rooster

STEP 13- Look at this cute hedgehog wearing a tiny hat:

There....don't you feel better now?

HAVE A HAPPY EASTER LONG WEEKEND! 

COMPETITIVE ADVERTISING IN CANADA

Sometimes a client will get some research results that are just too good not to share, especially if those results show that consumers prefer the client’s product over a major competitor’s. When this happens, naturally the results should be publicized, but before anyone starts producing spots that trumpet the client’s victory to the world, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Comparative and competitive advertising in Canada has to meet stricter standards than those enjoyed by our colleagues south of the border. Unsurprisingly, Canadian advertisers are required to be a little more…polite.

We cannot interpret research results in a way that disparages the competitor, no matter how tempting it is to work a little jab into a creative concept.

For instance, we can’t say “Our widgets are better than Company X’s widgets” even if we have research that concludes our widgets are more durable, tastier, bigger and better value than Company X’s widgets. Instead we can only report the facts, back them with client attestation letters, and wait to see how Company X responds.

So our advertising will say “Our widgets are preferred over Company X widgets 9 times out of 10 by Canadian widget consumers”, with a legal super to indicate the source of this information. Company X can then respond by complaining to Advertising Standards Canada (ASC), Telecaster (TVB) and/or CBC Advertising Standards at which point we’d have to be able to prove that our claim was truthful and accurate.

A spot that implies that the competitor’s widgets are unsafe or inferior will never see the flickering light of a TV screen.  Subtle details can make the difference… adjectives need to be used with care, actors cannot sneer at a competitor’s merchandise, and that merchandise can’t have packaging that resembles the competitor’s trademarked packaging.

If you come across a creative concept that takes a nice jab at the competition, please make sure you share it with your traffic coordinator before your client falls in love with it. Often scripts and storyboards can be tweaked in the pre-production stage to make sure that no rules are broken, but it’s much harder to fix issues in spots that have been produced. Check early, check often!

SUPERLATIVE CLAIMS IN ADVERTISING

Here’s a situation we dealt with recently while reviewing a new TV script:

In the script, the voiceover referred to our widget as a “product produced from the finest materials”.

We have to be very careful when using adjectives like “finest”, “best”, “warmest”, “most” etc. 

Superlatives indicate a claim of superiority over all other comparable products and that’s something that the regulatory boards cannot accept without a client attestation letter.  This is a document provided by the client, on company letterhead with a signature, stating that they can attest to all of the claims made in the advertisement.

Although this letter can be general in nature, meaning the actual proof of superiority does not have to be provided, the advertiser must be willing and able to provide the details if/when the claims are challenged by a competitor or consumer.

If our advertiser cannot provide substantiation to back up the claim, the script must be reworked and the wording changed to a broader claim, such as “produced from their finest materials” or “some of the finest materials”.

Although we have to be cautious with the use of superlatives, this one sounds pretty good, don't you think?

IT'S A SHORT WEEK!

Easter is right around the corner!  Our offices are closed this Friday, and part of our agency is also closed on Monday.
In addition, this means our broadcasters are working on advanced log closings.
Just as we mentioned in our Feb. 13 blog posting, we need to get material and instructions to our station friends a day early, in order to give them the necessary time to schedule our commercials with the best placement possible.

Short weeks are very busy and stressful, as we try to fit 5 days of work into 4 days, and deal with all the associated deadlines, but a day off to spend with family and friends makes it all worth it!

IT'S FRIDAY!

We've almost made it to the end of another work week. Time to wrap things up. Traffic those final radio campaigns for next week. Make sure there are no creative revisions pending. Have all residual cycle payments been processed? Any estimates still need signing? Timesheets all up to date?
Hurray!

Okay then, take a deep breath. Soon it will be time to start thinking about next week....

LATE FEES

Late fees are costs incurred as penalities for not getting talent payments to our radio & TV performers in a timely manner. 

Each union we deal with has its own set of rules pertaining to payment deadlines.

For ACTRA (English radio/TV talent)

Payment must be received no later than 21 calendar days (weekends included) from the last work day on the session contract.
Payment for residual cycles must be received no later than 28 calendar days from the 1^st day of the broadcast cycle.

For UDA (French radio/TV talent)

All payments must be received no later than 20 business days (weekends not included) from the last work day of the session or 1^st day of the broadcast cycle.

For AFofM (musicians for radio and/or TV)

We have 15 business days to make payment for sessions and 20 business days for residuals.

For SAG (U.S. radio/TV talent)

12 business days for session payments, 15 business days for online and radio/TV residuals, and holding fees must be in the hands of the performers on the day they become due.

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, we can’t pay the talent in a spot until we have the Completion Report from the producer.

We also need the completed session contracts and music contracts before payments can be made.  When commercials are being shot in far-away places, in other countries or even just out of town locations, there is often a delay in receiving contracts.
If post-production is complicated and involves many edits, it can take time for the producer to recap all of the information in the completion report especially since the producer may be working on multiple projects simultaneously.  Regardless, the clock starts ticking as soon as the performers sign out on the day of their performance.

Paying late fees is never a good thing. Most often they become a “write-off” expense since it’s pretty difficult to justify billing a client for costs that have been incurred because we missed the submission deadlines.

COMPLETION REPORTS

When production is completed on a new commercial and the spot is ready to air, the producer provides us with a document called a COMPLETION REPORT. This document is the bible for the commercial and is essential in order to pay talent residuals properly.

A completion report packs a lot of information into just a few pages. Along with showing basic information, like the date and year of production, it shows all the important details: the production house, the director, the post production house, info pertaining to the music track and any specifics regarding talent or music buyouts, or purchased songs and terms of contracts. The completion report also lists all of the performers, their unions, performance categories, and scale rates.

We can’t calculate residual estimates or make residual payments unless this document is filled out accurately. Even though we’ve probably processed session payments to the performers already, we have no way of knowing if all talent contracts are accounted for or if any talent has been edited out of the finished commercial until we review the completion report.

It’s super important we receive this document before a new commercial goes on the air or online. If we don’t then we risk incurring late fees on our cycle payments.

More about late fees in the next post.

REVISING TELEVISION COMMERCIALS

Sometimes we have to “tweak” or change a commercial that has already gone to air.  We’re still advertising the same product and marketing the same selling points, it’s just a new version of the spot that’s already on TV or online.

If we make a major change, like adding a new voiceover, changing a super or a price point or adding/deleting a scene in the commercial, we call it a “revision”. A new ID code is issued and the commercial title is changed slightly so that stations can tell the difference between the original spot and the new revised spot.  When we change the commercial title and ID code we also have to submit for new regulatory approvals because the approval numbers are married to the commercial title and ID code.

However, sometimes the revisions are minor. It could be as simple as adjusting the sound levels, or the audio mix. Or perhaps the colours need adjusting- the reds might be too “red” or the grass in the background is “not green enough”. These are called “technical revisions” or tech-rev’s.  In this case, because no part of the message has been changed, we only have to add “TECH REV” to the commercial title, “TR” to the end of the ID code and no regulatory resubmission is necessary.

When changes are rushed and the revised spot has to be on air as quickly as possible, it’s really tempting to call a revision a “tech rev” and avoid all of the extra steps like new titles and ID codes and new regulatory numbers. 

But cutting corners is not a good idea. Spots that have been revised to change the message or an important legal detail need to stand out and a new ID code and approvals help make that happen. Those new numbers also help ensure that the old, original spot won’t be aired accidentally in the future.

It’s worth the extra time and effort to make sure that revisions are done properly.

THIS IS WHAT I DID YESTERDAY

PAJAMA PALOOZA RESULTS!

The Traffic Department is happy to announce that our Pajama Day fundraiser was a HUGE success! We were able to raise $237.93 for Free the Children thanks to your generosity and participation.

 Many thanks to everyone who cheerfully wore jammies in the halls, bought our baked goods, drank tasty mimosas and generally indulged our wacky ideas.

How about Hawaiian Shirt Day in the summer? No?

TALENT PAYMENT

Paying talent is one of the more complicated parts of what we do. 

There are 5 main talent unions to satisfy, and each union has its own set of rules regarding the numerous cycle types to be paid.

We are signatory to all unions, meaning we are required to abide by union rules, and only hire talent from the pool of union members.

 Here are the unions we deal with for paying talent:

ACTRA: Canadian English language Radio and Television performers

UDA: Canadian French language Radio and Television performers
SAG: US Radio and Television performers
CFM: Canadian Federation of Musicians
AFofM: American Federation of Musicians

 Performers receive 2 types of payments- a SESSION payment for the recording of the performance, and a RESIDUAL payment for the use of the performance.

There are several different types of residual payments depending on how we air the commercials.

1)      TELEVISION CYCLES-
Most common type of television cycle covers 13 consecutive weeks of use. For  ACTRA, & UDA, as well as both music unions one payment is issued for unlimited use during the 13 week cycle. However, SAG requires a separate payment for Wildspot, Cable and Network use, meaning you potentially have to make 3 payments to cover 13 weeks of use.
2)      RADIO CYCLES-
As with TV, a typical radio cycle covers 13 consecutive weeks of use with one payment.  And for ACTRA, UDA and the music unions, the 1^st 13 weeks of use is covered by the session payment.
3)      INDUSTRIAL CYCLES-
Cover non-broadcast use, such as Trade Shows, Stadiums, In Flight, Cinema, In-store monitors and Outdoor boards. For ACTRA this use is covered if you have paid a current 13 week Television cycle, but the other unions require a separate payment for this use.
4)      INTERNET CYCLES-
Each union has their own payment requirements for online use. And further, the payment differs depending on whether you have produced a commercial for online use, or are using a spot originally produced for Television.

Complicated- yes. Expensive-you bet! 

Often, more than 1 union will be involved when a payment is made.

Best rule of thumb- never assume that any use of a commercial will not have an associated cost, for any medium. Never assume that your use will be at no additional cost, because it was the last time you aired the commercial.  Always contact your traffic coordinator BEFORE making any promises to a client or estimating  costs for uses in any medium. The rules are constantly changing regarding the compensation of performers, so this can easily turn into a very costly oversight.

 We are here to help guide you through this ever changing landscape, so feel free to contact us at any time. It’s a great time to be alive with all the available methods of broadcasting your message!

It's been a while....

Sorry faithful readers, it's been crazy stupid busy around here as of late.
But I'm back, I promise.
I found this article today and it totally sums up how I feel about the MediaBrands Traffic team.

8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees

Forget good to great. Here's what makes a great employee remarkable.

Great employees are reliable, dependable, proactive, diligent, great leaders and great followers... they possess a wide range of easily-defined—but hard to find—qualities.
A few hit the next level. Some employees are remarkable, possessing qualities that may not appear on performance appraisals but nonetheless make a major impact on performance.

Here are eight qualities of remarkable employees:

1. They ignore job descriptions. The smaller the company, the more important it is that employees can think on their feet, adapt quickly to shifting priorities, and do whatever it takes, regardless of role or position, to get things done.
When a key customer's project is in jeopardy, remarkable employees know without being told there's a problem and jump in without being asked—even if it's not their job.

2. They’re eccentric... The best employees are often a little different: quirky, sometimes irreverent, even delighted to be unusual. They seem slightly odd, but in a really good way. Unusual personalities shake things up, make work more fun, and transform a plain-vanilla group into a team with flair and flavor.

People who aren't afraid to be different naturally stretch boundaries and challenge the status quo, and they often come up with the best ideas.

3. But they know when to dial it back. An unusual personality is a lot of fun... until it isn't. When a major challenge pops up or a situation gets stressful, the best employees stop expressing their individuality and fit seamlessly into the team.

Remarkable employees know when to play and when to be serious; when to be irreverent and when to conform; and when to challenge and when to back off. It’s a tough balance to strike, but a rare few can walk that fine line with ease.

4. They publicly praise... Praise from a boss feels good. Praise from a peer feels awesome, especially when you look up to that person.

Remarkable employees recognize the contributions of others, especially in group settings where the impact of their words is even greater.

5. And they privately complain. We all want employees to bring issues forward, but some problems are better handled in private. Great employees often get more latitude to bring up controversial subjects in a group setting because their performance allows greater freedom.

Remarkable employees come to you before or after a meeting to discuss a sensitive issue, knowing that bringing it up in a group setting could set off a firestorm.

6. They speak when others won’t. Some employees are hesitant to speak up in meetings. Some are even hesitant to speak up privately.

An employee once asked me a question about potential layoffs. After the meeting I said to him, “Why did you ask about that? You already know what's going on.” He said, “I do, but a lot of other people don't, and they're afraid to ask. I thought it would help if they heard the answer from you.”
Remarkable employees have an innate feel for the issues and concerns of those around them, and step up to ask questions or raise important issues when others hesitate.

7. They like to prove others wrong. Self-motivation often springs from a desire to show that doubters are wrong. The kid without a college degree or the woman who was told she didn't have leadership potential often possess a burning desire to prove other people wrong.

Education, intelligence, talent, and skill are important, but drive is critical. Remarkable employees are driven by something deeper and more personal than just the desire to do a good job.

8. They’re always fiddling. Some people are rarely satisfied (I mean that in a good way) and are constantly tinkering with something: Reworking a timeline, adjusting a process, tweaking a workflow.

Great employees follow processes. Remarkable employees find ways to make those processes even better, not only because they are expected to… but because they just can't help it

The 9th Floor Pajama-Palooza!

Traffic People like to have fun while helping others.   This week we are celebrating Pajama-Palooza at the office to raise money for Free the Children, with a bagel and mimosa breakfast and a bake sale.

Free the Children does very important work helping kids all over the world to succeed against the odds.

To learn more about this worthy cause please check out their website.

http://www.freethechildren.com

The 9^th floor

Pajama-Palooza!!

Today

Comfort = Increased Productivity!!

(Right?)

For an affordable $2 donation, you can have

boss-sanctioned jammied coziness at work!

All proceeds to Free the Children.

WHAT A WEEK...

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. It's been a crazy 5 days filled with last minute campaigns, revisions, late creative, radio campaigns booked, postponed and rebooked, and hundreds of submissions for regulatoy approvals.

We are all looking forward to the holiday weekend break!
Have fun. Take some time to relax. Enjoy your family. Sleep in. Eat some junk food.
Next week we'll talk about paying Talent.  Now doesn't that just put the "f" into fun....