Howard Gossage - practical magic

Editor's Notes

• #2: Today we’re going to talk about San Francisco ad man - Howard Gossage - and his approach to advertising and life - we’re calling it Practical Magic.
• #3: Now the ads you’re about to see - well, some of them may seem a bit dated in their language and layout - but the thinking behind this work was revolutionary.
• #4: Some called Gossage “The Socrates of San Francisco.” Here’s what Warren Hinckle, the editor of Ramparts Magazine had to say… “Gossage was the Socrates of San Francisco. • Visiting lions from Tom Wolfe to Terry Thomas came to call on him in the magnificently restored firehouse on Pacific Street that was his place of work, and for a time, when Howard and his buddy Herb Caen were both between marriages and batching it about town, place of residence. • Gossage operated the Firehouse as if it were a French court and he the captive king. • He did everything first class – he ate, flew, wrote, talked, traveled first class. • He believed every man should be comfortable while engaging in the necessary business of rescuing the world. He was at the same time as open and innocent as a doe-eyed calf and as crafty as a raunchy old owl. • Howard was, nominally, in the advertising business. That at least was how he made his living, but he did it wholly on his own terms – first class – and with an originality of purpose and imagination that staggered the redundant minds of his profession.” (From “When You’ve Got a Lemon, make Lemonade” - by Warren Hinckle) OK, and now let’s hear a little bit from Howard (play audio on “interesting advertising”)
• #5: Part of Howard’s “Practical Magic” was an ability to connect with the media - not just through advertising. Gossage probably understood how to “work” the media as well as anyone in the history of the industry. In many ways, he was as much a publicist as an advertising person. The campaigns you’ll see had tremendous media impact.
• #6: His offices were in a San Francisco Firehouse - 451 Pacific - and it was, in some ways, a “salon,” where bright people would gather and enjoy each others company. San Francisco newspaper columnist described the Firehouse and a Gossage lunch. “Talk about style: he was the first to buy an abandoned old firehouse and convert it into offices that were the last word in cool modern elegance. His lunches there were legendary. He’d call bu David’s Deli, order a ton of everything, ask you to drop in at the last minute, and you’d drop everything to be there. You’d find youself building a pastrami sandwich next to Dr. Benjamin Spock. Or pouring a beer for John Steinbeck. Or listening to Buckminster Fuller. Or laughing at the bad jokes of Marshall McLuhan.”
• #7: As you can imagine, people had a pretty good time at the Firehouse - here’s a photo from “Hat Day,” the kind of spur-of-the-moment thing they’d like to do. It was also, as you’d imagine - a great place to have parties.
• #8: His legend lives on in San Francisco. Jeff Goodby has won the award a number of times. In fact, when he was forming his agency with Rich Silverstein and Andy Berlin, they hung this photo in their lobby for Luck And Jeff wrote the introduction to The Book of Gossage, a lovely piece called “Saint Howard Among the Sadly Serious.”
• #9: One of Gossage’s key collaborators was art director/designer Marget Larsen, who made huge contributions. Even today we see her contributions, ranging from the logo for The Cannery and the whole idea of supergraphics.
• #10: As we mentioned, Gossage had a unique understanding of media. The influential counter-culture publication Ramparts had Gossage as a key board member - and his agency one of the few offering advertising support. This magazine had a lot of impact during the War in Viet Na. He used the New Yorker as a major advertising medium - and had huge impact with his campaigns in that magazine. Here are two examples First, a unique campaign for the Irish Whiskey Distillers - they had noticed that “Irish Coffee” had become popular in San Francisco and they hired, at the New Yorker’s recommendation, San Francisco’s leading agency. (As you know Irish Coffee is nature’s most perfect dish - it’s the only one with the four essentials of fat, alcohol, caffeince, and sugar). The campaign ran primarily in the New Yorker and, by the end of it, every upscale bar in America knew how to serve Irish Coffee - and people knew how to order it. Second, a campaign for Eagle Shirts, a company that made private label shirts (shirts for department stores), and Gossage developed ads that ran in the New Yorker and set records for response levels.
• #11: In general, Howard’s ads worked very well. Here’s a Gossage headline for an ad that encourages collecting wine. (Read headline) This was his client Paul Masson Wines - and his ads did a very good job of building a quality reputation for the brand. Well, a lot of people did nice ads - what was special about Gossage’s work?
• #12: Well - he did ads that set records for response. The ads with the greatest response in the New Yorker weren’t by John Caples or anyone from the Direct Marketing Association, they were by Howard Gossage’s agency. But he didn’t stop at print. He played a major role in revolutionizing radio advertising. When he needed to do radio for a small tomato sauce company called Contadina - he called on radio comedian Stan Freberg - who had never done a radio commercial. Before Gossage and Freberg, comedy radio was not used. After the incredible success of Contadina - it became a major style. Today, everyone talks about the “Theater of the Mind.” Here’s a terriic example - their first commercial, Freberg suggests that they put a huge Contadina can on the top of the Empire State Building. (Play audio) This approach was a huge success for the brand. Ad Age named it one of the two top campaigns of the year. It established Contadina as a major brand - and beat off a major challenge by Hunt’s, which was a much larger company. By the way, thanks to Freberg, Gossage was also an award-winning TV writer, even though he never did a TV commercial. Stan Freberg credits him as copywriter on one of his Clio-winning TV spots for Chun King.]
• #13: Most of all, Gossage’s media magic contained an understanding of the power of PR and publicity. He added it to virtually all of his campaigns. What’s more - he “extended” his campaigns. Some actually became books. Gossage understood “IMC” (Integrated Marketing Communications) before it was a buzzword. But there was more…
• #14: There was more to Howard Gossage than advertising. One major piece of cultural impact and media impact was his introduction of Marshall Mcluhan to the world of media - here’s Tom Wolfe to tell you about it. (Go to video)
• #15: McLuhan talked about how media alters society and individuals in that society. For example, the shift to the printed word - McLuhan talked about the Gutenberg Galaxy - changed how we organized our thinking - civilization became literate - and it had huge impact on society - the Reformation was in many ways a result of mass printing of the Bible - the American Revolution was driven by the printing press - who was the leading printer in the Colonies? (Benjamin Franklin) - and virtually every literate person in the American Colonies read the pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas Paine - or had it read to them. McLuhan’s further point is that television is changing us. (Optional class question - have you heard what pediatricians have to say about small children - ages 1 to 7 - and TV watching? Answer - needs to be limited - alters the way they process information - more details on request). Gossage had further impact… (next slide)
• #16: He literally helped create the modern environmental movement - he’ll tell you some of the story in his own words later. But let’s just start by saying that David Brower’s “Friends of the Earth” started in offices at Gossage’s Firehouse. Howard Gossage is one of the big reasons that we celebrate Earth Day.
• #17: In fact, Gossage almost created a small country in the Caribbean - Anguilla - we’ll show you the ad that almost did it later.
• #18: So it’s no surprise that he thought that there were many things more important than advertising. Here are some examples. He thought that advertising people had a duty to the public - not just the client. In terms of media, he had a problem with billboards. He felt that the bargain between the public and the media was clear with print and broadcast - the cost of your media was subsidized by the advertiser - fair deal. But, he argued, what’s the deal with signs by the side of the highway. I get no media benefit - what right is there to intrude with advertising? He had a larger concern - he would often offer “the Hot Dog Analogy,” where, eventually the hot dog vendors take over the football game. The increased commercialism of sport and the tabloidization of the news are two examples. The underlying dynamic is what happens when the media’s focus shifts from serving its audience to delivering that audience to advertisers. Think - are you served or delivered? Finally, he suggested that, as far as advertising goes, maybe there was just a little too much of it - making all of it less effective. He called it a “billion dollar hammer on a ten-cent thumb tack.”
• #19: Here are some of Howard’s Key Concepts. First, he thought of advertising as “propaganda” - which it technically is - a paid message that has a purpose - to persuade. But he approached it much differently - where so many of us do a whole campaign - his approach to a campaign was sequential - he’d “propagate” his message. One message would follow another in an increasingly involving sequence. And he would, as often as possible, amplify that advertising with some sort of publicity component. He figured why pay for it if you didn’t have to - and he made his money on fees - not media commissions - very unusual for the time. He felt involvement of the audience was critical. As he often said, “People read what interests them - sometimes it’s an ad.” He understood how to “extend” media - again, his advertising turned into publicity campaigns - and some of his campaigns even turned into books. OK, practical magic. The thing about Howard is he “got it.” He understood what needed to be done for a brand - and he understood that much communication works on an entirely different level than what people think. One of those levels is that of “magical” communication - and it isn’t just Pillsbury Doughboys and Gatorade being Michael Jordan Juice - it’s all the ways that we communicate symbolically - and how one thing can magically mean something else. His Irish Whiskey ads seemed to have been written by an Irish poet in a bar some time during the 18th Century. Finally, Howard was always aware of playing a larger role in society - his introduction of Marshall McLuhan to our collective intellect, his support for causes ranging from Ramparts Magazine, to the environmental movement, to thinkers like Leopold Kohr, the first one to talk about “Small is Beautiful.” Incidentally, Howard probably would not have been a big fan of globalization - he liked the messy variety that happened on a human scale - and he was not at all convinced that bigger was better. OK - now we’re going to cover these concepts in a bit more detail - with some examples - and some of Howard’s comments - here goes
• #20: OK - Propaganda and Propagation - Advertising as an interactive dialogue with an audience. Howard also referred to this approach as “journalistic.” where each ad “reports” on the previous ad. He turned his campaigns into what felt like a conversation with the public. First, he’s going to give us some career advice. (audio bite)
• #21: Now he’s going to talk about one of his first big hits - QANTAS Airlines - a small airline with a small budget. So the first ad kicks off a silly little contest that sort of makes a point - that QANTAS has pretty good airplanes - and they have a contest to name the plane - First Prize - a Kangaroo - here’s what happens (audio bites)
• #22: So the next ad builds on the first - it announces the prize - and there’s a bit of a story behind it. (audio bite) Incidentally, this campaign - and the one for Contadina - pretty much made Howard’s reputation and he opened up his agency shortly thereafter.
• #23: OK - here’s one of his ads for Irish Whiskey - a debate about Pride vs. Profit Now - you may think this is “much ado about nothing” and you’re sort of right - but it’s actually kind of involving - you can vote - though for no particular reason - but it’s like the ad asks for your opinion. It’s sort of late night bar debate - just the sort of thing you’d do over an Irish Coffee. Oh, and another thing - this ad sort of starts in the middle - they apologize that the previous week’s ad sort of ran over - and then continue in a charming way - and the ad doesn’t quite finish either - it keeps you involved - and you sort of look forward to the next ad.
• #24: Eagle Shirts was a manufacturer of private label shirts - and they wanted to build their reputation. The owner, S Miller Harris, was attracted to Gossage by his Irish Whiskey ads - and he wrote a letter saying he might like some interesting advertising. He got it - with ads like these - which offered an Eagle Shirt label - and a curious back to back spread which offered - well they weren’t sure what it was - sort of a piece of shirt with a pocket sewn on it - and a buttonhole, too. - and then you turned the page and there was this invitation to respond Well, whatever it was, thousands responded to the offer.
• #25: And here’s what we mean by media extensions. The responses were turned into a book. Dear Miss Afflerbach - or- The Postman Hardly Ever Rings 11,342 Times.
• #26: Another aspect of Gossage’s “propagation” was his use of publicity - using advertising as a catalyst for that publicity. Here’s a classic - Rainier Ale - and it starts in typical Gossage fashion. The media rep for a classical radio station - one that Howard listened to - shows up in the offices and says, “Howard, we’re dying, here. I need some advertising. I need some help.” So Howard helps. He says, let’s see, we’ve got the Rainier Ale account - I guess we could advertising on your station - but how do I make advertising on a cliassical music station make sense - so he does this kind of super-logical leap and says - Beethoven Sweatshirts. (show ad) Now this is before people are anything on sweatshirts besides college names and fraternity initials. So he doesn’t just help the station - and his client - the campaign is a hit - he starts the whole cool thing on sweatshirts trend.
• #27: Marget did the design - and the whole thing got huge - but they hadn’t really bothered to copyright it or anything - so they just had a good laugh and moved on. Next thing that happens - a guy shows up in their San Francisco office and says he wants to walk to Seattle. (next slide)
• #28: It’s “Coach Stahl,” a genuine character. The Seattle World’s Fair was going up and he wanted to walk there - and he wanted a a sponsor. So Howard goes for it. His first ad is to recruit a hiking team to go to Seattle for Rainier Ale - wearing their Beethoven sweatshirts, of course. And his second ad is the team - they’ve got a “soldier of fortune” and some guy with bag pipes - and this ad is a spread and the other page is the route they’re going to take - all the way up the coast of California - through to Seattle - right through Rainier Ale’s marketing area - cool, huh? And there really wasn’t a third ad - there didn’t have to be - the publicity they generated - the appearances and everything generated huge PR all the way up the coast to Seattle. OK - next example
• #29: This is real magical thinking at work - and at the same time it’s super-logical. Also - remember that a good magician may use a bit of mis-direction - to distract you from the real point. Let’s let Howard tell you about it. (audio bite)
• #30: (Continue w. audio bite)
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• #32: And finally - another media extension - this time The Great International Paper Airplane Book - it’s still available.
• #33: You can do this. Think about how to propagate your brand and your campaign. Think of how Gossage did it - with Contests with Continuity - a dialogue with those reading the ad and with Publicity - finding ways to generate noise in the media - without paying for it Think of how you can develop involvement with your communications - “leave room for the mouse.” And how can you extend your campaign into other media vehicles - Think about it. You Can Do This.
• #34: OK, here’s some practical magic - where we make something out of nothing. It’s a terrific example of Gossage’s organic campaign creation and propagation - here, we’ll let him tell the story. (Play audio bite)
• #36: This was their “Motto.” It connected with how you really felt about getting gasoline.
• #37: Here’s a typical Gossage tactic - a contest.
• #38: And then an ad celebrating the winner of the contest.
• #39: And how about an ad talking about their pipeline?
• #40: Here you could get a “Free Sample” - a pink balloon.
• #41: One of Howard’s friends was Stanley Marcus of Nieman-Marcus - and they got caught up in the “Pink Air” thing with this amusing product. It was air freshener - and it made you smile. And that’s how Howard worked his magic. With a very small budget, awareness of Fina virtually exploded. Things were going along fine until a few things happened. First, they shot John F Kennedy. Gossage and the Fina client became involved in some controversial statements about Dallas. Gossage resigned the account, the client, Jack Shea, joined Gossage in San Francisco, and Fina meandered into merger world, with a much higher valuation due to Gossage’s advertising. But the fact remains - Gossage took one of the most ordinary of products - and made it magic -with advertising. So let’s talk about magic a bit - practical magic.
• #42: Simply put, advertising is Practical Magic - Gossage wrote an article about it in Harper’s Magazine - he noted that the language of magic - call it Jungian archetypes if you will - was a part of civilization. Here’s what he said in his classic article for Harpers, Black, White, and Pango Peach Magic. “Advertising is a brand new instrument, unique to our age, but at the same time it plays mankind’s oldest themes. The reason is this: in an advertisement’s effort to persuade people of the justice of its cause, whatever it may be, it invariably seeks a common denominator. The more people it attempts to persuade, the more common the denominator, the more basic the appeal will be. When, in addition, the product advertised is virtually identical with its competitors, or when the product’s value to its user is largely subjective, the appeals become so basic that they slide away from fact as we know it. They go beyond reason into something more basic, the most common denominator of all, magic.” Then he covered the various types - There’s Imitative & Contagious Magic - Put a Tiger in Your Tank - or Be Like Mike - are examples of this kind of magic. We associate one thing with another thing - it’s simple - but the deeper connection c is really magical - rather than logical. There are other types of Magical Communication - Totems - like Tigers - whether it’s Tony the Tiger or Tiger Woods There are Totems and Taboos - The Bud Frogs are Totems - Halitosis is a Taboo - Icons - like the Nike Swoosh - or The Eagle Shirt Label And “Whassup” is almost a magical incantation.
• #43: Here was a magic word for Howard - “Flahoolick” an Irish word meaning “princely exuberance” He made his Irish Whiskey advertising mythic - almost like it was done by the same people who’d done the “Book of Kells.” An antique graphic feel with a hip, but understated attitude - very engaging for their readers - remember, these ads appeared in The New Yorker - a very sophisticated audience.
• #44: Here’s a modern example - a modern media god - Al Roker the NBC Today Show Weatherman. See how magic adds value?
• #45: Here’s where we’re going to encourage you to do the same - on a cocktail napkin - on your next assignment - whatever. See what happens when add magical thinking. Leo Burnett did it with his “inherent drama” - and the result was some of the most memorable advertising in history. And if you create something… magical - maybe you’ll win a prize from The Copy Workshop (Hint - it will probably be either “The Book of Gossage” or a Howard Gossage “F.O.G.” [Friend of Gossage] T shirt). Just send your entry to www.adbuzz.com - you’ll find an e-mail address right there.
• #46: As you’ll see with two examples (this one and Anguilla) - Howard had bigger things on his mind than just selling stuff. And he felt that anyone who worked with the media had a responsibility to see that this valuable resource was properly used. The West Coast Edition of The New York Times had been cancelled -due to cost considerations - and Howard wrote this ad - “What good is Freedom of the Press if there isn’t one.” He was a newspaper reader who’d just lost his newspaper - and he wondered why readers hadn’t been asked to do more. This was part of a larger issue that worried him - The Hot Dog Analogy - he called it “The Hot Dog Vendors taking over the football game.”
• #47: You could call The Big Flip. We went from media serving its audience - To media delivering its audience to advertisers. Think about this - consumers - everyone out there - sort of understands this trick - one that has really changed the world we live in and the world we do business in - Howard saw it all coming. Howard saw the Hot Dog Vendors taking over the game - and his view was that it wasn’t going to improve the game - and it wasn’t necessarily going to make it a better world for advertising. More doesn’t make it better. And now We Are The Clutter - we’re hip deep in it. His point - people read what interests them - when it’s all a din - when we’ve all been there/done that - what’s interesting? So what’s the answer - Howard gives us a clue there, too. Take the high road. Maybe it won’t work for everyone - not for everyone of you = and maybe not for every client - but Howard’s view was that we are individuals who aspire - or we ought to be.
• #48: Here’s another example of how Howard was always looking to play on a larger stage. He and his crowd almost got a country started - Anguilla was a small island in the Caribbean that was going to be absorbed into another tourist-oriented group of British Islands. The Anguillans at the time wanted to be their own country - independent and not rich - but self-sustaining. At the time Howard was promoting the thinking of Leopold Kohr - who talked about the dangers of things being too big - his disciple EF Schumacher wrote “Small is Beautiful.” Anyway - Kohr brought the Anguilla issue to Howard’s attention - and he wrote this ad which ran in the New York Times - “Is it ‘silly’ that Anguilla does not want to become a nation of bus boys?” The topic was debated in British Parliament and the Anguilla independence movement was building a head of steam. Howard’s team designed a flag and money, and they figured out a way to make money by minting money and selling it through coin shops and collectors and the like. Well, things were moving along until the leader of Anguilla showed up in New York and discovered room service. Lamb Chops. He just kept ordering them - and somewhere along the line thought that maybe a hotel or two wouldn’t be such a bad idea. And that was pretty much it for the independent state of Anguilla. But it was quite and adventure.
• #49: Next - The Sierra Club - where Howard was a catalyst in starting the modern ecology movement with David Brower - let’s let him tell you in his own words.
• #50: (play audio) Well, after all this happened - the Sierra Club basically told their director - David Brower - that they didn’t want all this commotion. Brower said essentially, “you guys are nuts, this is EXACTLY” what we need to be doing. He quit and formed Friends of the Earth. His first offices were at 451 Pacific - Howard’s Firehouse. And this was the beginning of the modern environmental movement - so next time you see an Earth Day - remember it was a San Francisco ad guy who helped make it happen. Incidentally, without Howard’s work, it wouldn’t have happened. This ad here - the Grand Canyon ad - actually they ran two ads - one was an “open letter” ad written by David Brower - and the other was this one. Brower’s ad did nothing - Howard’s ad really kicked butt.
• #51: And this was Howard’s final bit of practical magic - the magic of connection. What happens when people connect and do what people do - laugh, talk, share, and make something happen. Howard was always looking for like-minded people to raise a little hell - and do it in style. Here on Walter Landor’s boat (Walter Landor - founder of Landor Associates - one of the world’s leading design firms) is Howard with Walter Landor, Tom Wolfe, Marshall McLuhan and his wife - Alice Lowe, Gossage’s office manager who is currently head of San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, Herb Caen - the well-known columnist, a city commissioer, and Gerry Feigen, a doctor who joined Howard’s merry band. He’d promote new ideas for the joy of it. And he made a difference.
• #52: Have a Higher Purpose - rise above the game - Use your talents with “Flahoolick” Princely Generosity - And have as much fun as possible doing it. Really YOU CAN DO THIS - Host a lunch - or after work get-together - with interesting people. (I did this on a few trips - Seattle - San Francisco - just gathered some interesting people and had dinner and shared stories and had a wonderful time. See what happens when bright minds that haven’t met are sitting around the same table.) Finally - write a letter. Remember letters. Did someone do something you approve of? Think what will happen when they receive a letter out of the blue. Some of Howard’s great friendships - like his friendship with San Francisco columnist Herb Caen - began merely by Howard writing a letter.) (Optional - Herb Caen story - That’s Howard’s lesson for all of us. Do you understand what I’m saying here - you’ll be a better person - you’ll do better work - and you’ll live a better life.
• #53: The Good Deed Exercise - take up a worthy cause - lend your energy and talents with “princely exuberance” (flahoolick)
• #54: On his passing, here’s what his friend Warren Hinckle said. “He had made his living making lemonade out of lemons, and he didn’t see why he should treat dying any differently. • His was the rarest breed of one-upmanship, life laughing literally in death’s face, a gut instinct beyohnd bravery, a final act played with great style but without bravado. • He simply refused to accept death’s own unimaginative terms, and made of the experience a love song to the innocent merriment of existence.” Warren Hinckle And here’s an excerpt from what Tom Wolfe said at the funeral - “Howard was a person who imparted a fantastic energy to anything that people around him wanted to undertake. This is a quality beyond assessing, whether it was in terms of the magazines he was involved with, or the personalities he was involved with, or with various things in the lives of each of us. He somehow made you able to soar a little higher and do it with a kind of zest for your own life that you probably had not had before. He exulted in whatever other people cold do with their lives. In fact, that was one thing that Howard insisted on - that you somehow get on the Dionysian plane with him and if you could do it, no one would applaud louder than he. It was a dare which he handed you, a dare you would not forget.” So - as you move on to your careers - your accomplishments - why don’t you take that dare - sure times are tough - maybe that’s all the more reason. And the richness of life comes from more than your billings and your awards - it comes from what you really accomplish with this magic gift we’ve each been given.
• #55: And that’s it - here’s Howard in an ad for Rover Motor Cars - the point of the ad - seat belts are cool. While Detroit was telling the world that people didn’t want seat belts, Howard once again saw the future - He was thirty years ahead of his time - so, hey - maybe you’re ready. NOTE: End Here - or go to Howard’s interesting, but kind of long-winded speech on “Mammanoids and Tediophobes.” If you’re in the mood for a little more Howard - we have a kind of long-winded speech on “Mammanoids and Tediophobes.” He talks about the two kinds of people in the ad business - you’ll probably recognize some of your situation in it.
• #56: Audio bite has Howard’s riff on two kinds of people in agency biz - “Mammonoids” those driven by money (mammon) and “tediophobes” those who don’t want to be bored.