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 Consultant's Corner By Ted Bird Overselling Exclusivity Forty years ago the industry and the unions agreed that “exclusivity” was one of the reasons for additionally paying performers for the continued use of their day’s work. The continued use of their commercial kept them from working in commercials for competitive products. All of us in all parts of the industry worked very hard convincing our world that this concept of “exclusivity” was important and that it justified the concept of residual payments. And now we all believe it! Advertisers, agency folk, casting directors, and certainly the performers all believe that “exclusivity” justifies this crazy patch work way of paying talent. We are limiting their employment by other advertisers who advertise similar products because they are held to “exclusivity” – they can’t work for a competitor. I tried to explain this concept to my father in rural Oklahoma some years ago. He really couldn’t understand why we kept repeatedly paying performers, even though they did no further work. He thought it a very strange concept. Paying someone for not working was like paying a farmer not to raise corn! Could it be that Mary A. working as a mother in a Dove soap commercial would confuse viewers by also being a super model riding a horse in an Irish Spring soap commercial? Other than the advertising characters created by commercials like Mr. Whipple and the Maytag repairman*, or a celebrity endorser, does anyone actually identify a performer with the product? Do you think a customer actually buys the Dove soap because Mary A. was in it? Hopefully they buy Dove soap because it has something different that appeals to them – a difference learned by watching the commercial . Mary A. did a great job. She’s is a terrific mother in this commercial. But if you replaced Mary A. with Susy B. would there be a dramatic difference in the sales of Dove soap? I think that people remember the character, not necessarily the actor! But if they do remember the actor, is it important? Other than the agency folk, the advertisers (we agency folk told them how important this was), the casting directors, and the commercial actors of the world, who else will be confused. No one! Will Joe Blow in Little Rock or Ann Smith in Kansas City be confused by this fortunate actress who has two commercials on the air? For competing products? As my gray-haired father said, “It’s just an actor trying to make a living!” Forty years have passed. “Exclusivity” will continue to be one of the reasons for residual payments far into the future, I suspect. We sold the idea too well. We all believe it. I wish there were a better way. * Remember that there were three different Mr. Whipples, and two different Maytag repairmen. Few of us are aware of that. Get back to Ted Bird |
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