Hollywood2020.net Blogger Reaches Motrin Ad Agency Rep: Agency Appeared to Knew NOTHING about TWITTER OUTRAGE

By Joyce Schwarz, blogging at www.hollywood2020.net

By Joyce Schwarz, blogging at www.hollywood2020.net

(Left pix of Joyce Schwarz who is the author of a new book called THE VISION BOARD now #1 Spiritual bestseller on Amazon.com. Schwarz also has another life where she is a media futurist and author of more than 200 articles and 5 books on new media. Schwarz combines more than a dozen years in advertising and marketing including executive vice president posts at such major agencies as Foote Cone & Belding and affiliates of Ogilvy (OMD). She holds a journalism degree from Ohio University and a masters degree in professional writing from USC's Film School. 

Coincidentally, Schwarz did some consulting on the Tylenol incident years ago. Schwarz is an expert in crisis PR and marketing and community outreach. She is probably best known as the creator of the MISSING KIDS ON THE MILK CARTON campaign she created as a freelance consultant for a major Los Angeles ad agency and Ralphs Grocery stores (which is recounted for the first time in her book) http://www.tinyurl.com/visionboardamazon. )

HOT NEWS.....on Twitter.com is a spew of more than 2000 posts expressing outrage on a Motrin.com online animation portraying a woman carrying her child in a baby sling. 

SO rather than join the discussion (which is WAY more than 2000 posts now), I put my 20 years in advertising and new media background to good use and researched out the MOTRIN AD AGENCY OF RECORD.  What I found was rather amazing!

BLOGGER NOTE: Don't know what Twitter is -- it's a social newtworking, microblogging site www.twitter.com that allows individuals (many of whom are bloggers, journalists & VIP's in the new media/digiterati community) to post the equivalent of 'instant messages" 

1) The agency of record is Taxi New York City -- Paul Lavoie, co-founder, chairman and chief creative officer of entire TAXI network (offices in Canada and in NYC). TAXI is a Toronto based agency (scroll down for info on who heads the NYC office.) See below the info on when TAXI picked up the Motrin account of $18 million.

J&J Flags Taxi for $18 Million Motrin Brands - Agency News ... -(blogger note see the ADAGE.com post of 8/9/08 written by Jack Neff which notes that the agency is fairly new and was appointed by J&J (Johnson & Johnson to handle its $18 Million Motrin and children's Motrin account in August, 2008) --about 8 weeks ago! 

2) It's an $18 million account BIG BUCKS IN THIS DAY AND AGE 

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Global consumer products and health-care giant Johnson & Johnson has tapped another boutique ad agency, moving its $18 million ...adage.com/agencynews/post?article_id=119801 - 41k - Cached

3) Joyce Schwarz, media futurist and former top ad agency exec blogging at www.hollywood2020.net was able to reach via her cell phone, the agency's inside PR person, Lisa Sanders, Director of Corporate Communications for TAXI NYC office. 

4) When Joyce Schwarz told Lisa . "I'm calling from Hollywood2020.net a new media blog and I'm a media futurist and wonder if you have any comment on the Motrin controversy on TWITTER" Sanders appeared to be caught off-guard and unaware. 

Joyce spent the next 10 minutes updating Sanders about the controversy as a professional courtesy and explaining what was happening on Twitter.com --2000 posts and even a podcast/interview tonight where Peter Shankman, founder of HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and current 'PR media star" )will be commenting on the Twitter Mommy OUTRAGE!

(From the background sounds via Lisa's end of the phone call, the impression was that Joyce reached Sanders at her home and it sounded like there were children in the background. Relevant because the outrage was fueled by a post by www.momfuse.com  4:10 p.m see tweet from momfuse who says it was Jessica Gottlieb who wrote the first post about objecting to the animated spots on www.motrin.com about moms carrying babies in a sling on their shoulders).

5) Schwarz walked Lisa Sanders through the posts online and also provided info about Peter Shankman who Sanders did not know . Joyce also provided info about his amazing service HARO which provides leads on news topics including breaking stories for input from experts for reporters covering the stories real-time or next day or longer range.

6) Sanders had no immediate comment. She asked when Schwarz needed a comment and Joyce said she was posting the blog about this call right now. Schwarz said as soon as possible. 

7) At 12:25 p.m PST Sanders called Schwarz back and on the record said, “
”We’re doing our research on this”.

When asked who “we” is Sanders said Taxi New York. When asked if Sanders had talked to the president of TAXI New York she said she declined to answer that.

PRESIDENT OF TAXI NEW YORK (MOTRIN's agency of record is Daniel Ravinowicz)

When asked by Schwarz who the president of TAXI New York is –the director of communications for them, Lisa Sanders said it is Daniel Ravinowicz, president of Taxi NYC.

The website for the agency is: http://www.TAXI-nyc.com

Schwarz asked Lisa if she knew when they would be making a comment and she said no. Joyce also asked Lisa again if she (Lisa) had personally looked at Twitter and the blogs and Lisa said “yes I did”.

JOYCE SCHWARZ RECOMMENDATION TO TAXI ON WHAT THEY/MOTRIN SHOULD BE DOING!

Schwarz added to Lisa – if it were me I would have posted a blog post on the agency site saying just that – that you’re looking into the Twitter comments on the Motrin animation on the Motrin site. And I probably would even set up an 800 number so people could call in their comments/suggestions as to how to make it better." Silence was at the other end of the call on after that comment.

(blogger note --One of the best comments I saw on twitter.com was for every ad agency to have CHIEF MOM OFFICER).

So that’s the story from New York as of 12:30 p.m PST. We’ll watch the fray unfold on Twitter.com and tune into the podcast online tonight.

RESOURCES FOR THIS BLOG POST INCLUDE:

http://www.TAXI-nyc.com

Joyce Schwarz, www.hollywood2020.net, media futurist, author and former ad agency executive who is probably best known for creating the rollout of the MISSING KIDS ON THE MILK CARTON campaign and actually worked at one time as a consultant for a regional agency for J&J (parent company of Motrin on the rollout of J&J’s disposable contact lens campaign. Schwarz can be reached at: [email protected] and 310-822-3119

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23MotrinMoms or if you’re familiar with that site #motrinmoms

Note there is an online discussion/podcast set for this evening as of right now blogger Joyce Schwarz will be tuning in as a listener don’t know if there will be questions. Saw that Peter Shankman is a featured guest. More on that in the next post on www.hollywood2020.net.

Comments

[Stephani Holland]

Thanks for the due diligence, this is excellent info. Not only does the number of marketers completely oblivious to Twitter amaze me, but the number of men in creative director and marketing positions who continue to be flat out unwilling to admit they do not understand how to connect to women is mind boggling. To be honest I feel just as strong about the VW MLS webisodes. The male CD on that project felt that people would find the "scatterbrained, leave your kids on the side of the road, soccer mom portrayal" as "endearing." Go figure.

[Sandra Foyt]

It's one thing to know in theory that we're living in a flat world where media consumers have an unprecedented ability to affect change, but it's another to see this in action.

Thank you for adding another interesting facet to this unfolding story.

P.S. It's not just moms who value baby carriers.
Doctor, Mountain Climber, Daddy, Baby Carrier
http://spedr.com/3qu9o

[Cathy]

Nice write up. I also posted an article regarding this. Great call calling Taxi.

[Tina Williams]

Joyce-

Thanks so much for getting involved and for being proactive by alerting Lisa Sanders. As a babywearing mom of four I am insulted and upset by BOTH video.

As a marketer, I can only wonder what kind of testing they did prior to releasing and what kind of damage control they are going to do now.

I have a master list of bloggers I'm doing and it is growing by the minute! Next ad they run they should consider running it by some actual Moms (or Dads) first!

Great Post.

Tina
@newoldmom
@bestreflections

[Joyce Schwarz]

See the followup post I did on this blog at http://tinyurl.com/motringate Thanks for your input !