Ryan Alford [00:00:20] Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to the latest edition of the Radcast news holiday edition. Always joined by the lovely Reiley Clark, the producer, and content extraordinaire. I'm running out of adjectives for Reiley, but good to have you out. 

Reiley Clarke [00:00:50] Thank you. Appreciate it. Glad to be here. 

Ryan Alford [00:00:51] So what's shakin' over there? We are in the new podcast studio, which I'm enjoying. We have dynamic camera angles going. We've got a warm, cosy fire keeping us nice and toasty. I am feeling it on my shoulder like it's subconscious. No, it's just a digital video going there. 

Reiley Clarke [00:01:10] Absolutely. I know it's a little warm. Little good here today. It makes up for the cold outside. That's going on today. It's a chilly day. 

Ryan Alford [00:01:18] It is a little dreary cold for the winter months here in South Carolina. We don't have many blustery days, as I would call it. But I like what you've done with the podcast studios. I think looking good. Feeling better. I'm feeling this. And, I mean, if I could dance in this chair, I'd be dancing on it. 

Reiley Clarke [00:01:42] That's where we are at. I'm so glad; that's where we're at now. 

Ryan Alford [00:01:44] How's the week been? How are we getting geared up for the holidays? Lots of Christmas shopping, all those kinds of things. 

Reiley Clarke [00:01:54] Yeah, lots of stuff going on. It's funny, you get all this stuff for your family and you've mentally been preparing, getting stuff for your family. And then you realize;" OK, I have less than a week now to get everything together". So this is your news flash. Do you want to talk about the news? 

Ryan Alford [00:02:11] If you listen to this on the day it releases, you have T minus one week. T minus one week to get it all done and get it all in. My wife's freaking out. We have a few more things to buy the boys. And, my wife's getting one large gift. And so, oh, I need to get her a few small things, like one big thing. So it's always that dilemma when we all think of that someone; did we get enough? It's the consumerism in us. 

Reiley Clarke [00:02:44] Or you want it to be, and I'm; "Was this meaningful? Was this good? Did this hit all the things that they want me?" 

Ryan Alford [00:02:55]  She knows what she is getting so she'll be happy. 

Reiley Clarke [00:02:56]  That is what is important. 

Ryan Alford [00:02:57] Yeah. Exactly. So we'll see. Do you have holiday traditions or foods or things? My dad always makes, we call it, TV snacks, but it's like checks Mix. So that's what it is. Any go-to foods or traditions for you? 

Reiley Clarke[00:03:20] I love sweet potato casserole, and my mom makes the best sweet potato casserole, and she's Southern a southern cooker. So it has all the sugar that you need. You probably shouldn't be consuming, but you want it. And, the marshmallows are glazed just perfectly on top, and nothing about it is too watery.o 

 Ryan Alford [00:03:47] Only half the calories count. 

Reiley Clarke[00:03:20] Right ? Around the holidays, it doesn't matter.  So that's what's been going on there. I hate to say it, but you love turkey or ham. And then it's almost like a Thanksgiving part two in some ways. But then you have the cranberry sauce. I just love it. And I love the pies and the cakes that can come from Christmas. Just spot on. 

Ryan Alford [00:04:15] You should be getting hungry by now if you listen. I'm over here. We record these right around lunchtime. So it's making me hungry. Might be blistering through this episode fast as possible to get to some leftover sandwich or something. And it's not as exciting, but nonetheless. I don't think half the calories count during the holidays. Oh, that's what we say. 

Reiley Clarke [00:04:38]  But what about you? Do you have a favourite food? 

Ryan Alford [00:04:40] Like my dad makes the Checks Mix. We're going to my mom's this weekend. We do it before Christmas. She's in Columbia, South Carolina, or thereabout right outside of it on Lake Murray. And so we go down there, and it's normally a mixed bag like sometimes it's somewhat of the Thanksgiving, sometimes it's a random casserole that she's testing out. She always cooks. She's a great cook. So it's always something delicious. But, we're not like dead set on exactly this one dish for Christmas. I get the turkey dressing. All that's Thanksgiving is pretty set. But the Christmas meal is usually just something good. And my dad we typically have done like a prime rib or something out. 

Reiley Clarke[00:05:31] That sounds awesome. Do you all have anything else going on? Do you feel like you have something that's this notable thing that's either about to get you crazy excited for New Year's or something that's like, okay, like this is about to happen and I just can't wait for it? 

Ryan Alford [00:05:50] Honestly, we don't have an event this year that's somewhere or something that may be like driving that. I will say I'm taking a few days off, probably a week total, around the holidays, either before or after Christmas or around New Year's. And so I'm looking forward to just a little bit of; Nicole's going to be off and I'll have the boys. And, strangely enough, with everything going on and other things, I'm kind of just looking forward to just some nothingness just like and it's all kind of like chilling and I guess watching some really bad ball games or something like that with how this year's going. Clemson plays Notre Dame 

Ryan Alford [00:07:46] No, but cool. Well, here's Riley with the news. 

Reiley Clarke [00:07:55] Our news topics for today: The first one we will get into is McDonald's in Sweden; they decided to bring back the golden M haircut officially. And we know what we're talking about here. We're talking about Leonardo Decaprio.  Young Leo is a heartthrob and still is for their work on issues like between him and Brad Pitt with that blond kind of shaped haircut. I mean, they're trying to bring that back. And McDonald's Sweden is doing a virtual barbershop deal where you can come in, and get your golden haircut. But I like how this is bringing in. I mean, we talk about this all the time. This is a marketing podcast, but it's like, what is this doing for the brand of McDonald's? I think it's doing more than just; "oh, this is funny, they're bringing back this golden M haircut". I think this is a  cool thing for McDonald's to be doing. 

Ryan Alford [00:08:46] This falls into the realm of; '"e have more money than we know what to do with our marketing efforts". Like, don't get me wrong, I think it's fun, and it's great social content. And they're doing it in Sweden. I'm not pooh-poohing the idea. I like it, but it's like some brands that are out there, they're just trying to find the one idea to make hay with and Mcdonald's has like a hundred things going on. It's a worldwide brand and so the golden arches, the old man haircut. I know it's a thing. I'm well aware of it and I like both of those guys, DeCaprio and Brad Pitt, good actors and good-looking guys. Hey, I call a spade a spade. They're studs. But I just like to look at some of these things with a little bit of a slanted eye. Some of the other news that I liked more of the play on the, 'No Shave November, McRibbs'  just relaunched and they gave way like the first one hundred thousand people came in and shaved. I like that for viral content, maybe that related to me more. But it's cool. When you have the money, just spend it. I can just imagine how many ideas they sit around between the agencies working with it and internally. It's like how many ideas hit the board and how many they implement. The scale of that it's probably hard even to comprehend. 

Reiley Clarke [00:10:23] Right, I hear that. The other topic we have for today is obviously about the Super Bowl. It's coming up very quickly. And we were just talking about this, whether it's WVU or Clemson and I haven't been keeping track of WVU, so sorry, guys. But when you think about what's even been happening with just the course of NFL football this year, I mean, it's been very weird, people can't even go to the stadium. I mean, all those other things, games being cancelled. I think a lot of marketers right now are like; "OK, are we going to have our Super Bowl moment this year or not "? How does it even play in? Where will it come in, and where are we putting our ads? And, that's just a big question that's circulating right now to you. 

Ryan Alford [00:11:09] It's five and a half million dollars for thirty seconds. And I will say this, as much as linear TV, I think it is a bad buy. A lot of the time, now the audience is just so distracted. And very few millennials or GenZE or even my demographic, it's just not a lot of linear Tvs. There is some kind of down on TV as a whole. The traditional commercial. However, the Super Bowl is that time and place and that moment where there's so much attention on it. You've got people over for parties, stuff, and people are watching, and the commercials have become an event. And so if five and a half million dollars on air to reach 250 million or however many people it is, it might be an impression for impression.  It's the best buy you can make if you can afford it. And so it's been interesting to watch that.

I think they're almost sold out. Eighty per cent sold out of all spots by  November, December. I think it started a little slower than in previous years, but now it has picked up because people realise it. And we talked about Pringles and some of their brand's play. Pringles could be on their backing of the flavours. OK, that'll be cool. Budweiser's back. They've been a mainstay. They have, I think, exclusivity in the beer category. I don't know how much they paid for that win, but it's got to be hundreds of millions of dollars. 

Reiley Clarke  [00:12:35] Are they bringing back the and the puppies Clydesdales? 

Ryan Alford [00:12:37]  I wish that they would. 

Reiley Clarke  [00:12:40]  No, they're not. 

Ryan Alford [00:12:41]  I haven't seen any mention of exactly what they are, those iconic campaigns. 

Reiley Clarke  [00:12:46]  I love when those came on. 

Ryan Alford [00:12:51]  It's going to be interesting because of the game's dynamics. Don't get me wrong; it's made for television. If any NFL games are made for television, they're all made for television. There are hundreds of camera angles and all that. But you got the crowd and all that. The Super Bowl is produced for TV, it might have less of the impact of the no crowd or no people there than you might realize because, again, it's such a spectacle on television with the halftime show and all those things. And so I think I think they're going to probably even take it a step further with the whole, knowing I mean, you're not obviously or they may show crowd shots of the cardboard figures are not Super Bowl. Maybe they'll never come for several double dynamic 3D versions of the cardboard. 

Reiley Clarke [00:13:37] Have you noticed that we have stuff like that on Kelly Clarkson's show on the office TVs? But they have like a screen or whatever. And it's just people that are coming in from Zoom or whatever. Do you think they would incorporate something like that at all, or do you feel like that's completely not something that's going to happen? 

Ryan Alford [00:14:00] Maybe it's hard to say. I don't know. But I did see Turbo Tax. He's been doing some pretty creative stuff. Also, Mars and Eminem will be back. They said that Toyota will be there. But olay, the skincare brand will not be coming back, nor will Avocados from Mexico. They've had some pretty creative spots. They ended their streak. I don't know if the avocado sales are down or if it's just not worth the money. 

Reiley Clarke [00:14:36] Not at my supermarket. I am obsessed with Avocados. I  eat two or three avocados a day if I'm completely honest. 

Ryan Alford [00:14:41] I love avocados. I had them on my coconut chicken tacos last night. 

Reiley clarke[00:14:49] Oh, that sounds good. Are you a cook? 

 Ryan Alford [00:14:51]  I heated it. I made the tacos, but the coconut chicken was pre-made made from Publix.  Nicole bought it and I'm like; Yeah! She did the shopping last night so I was fending for myself. They were pretty tasty with avocado and all that on there. That sounds super good as we get hungrier. Hungrier. 

Reiley Clarke [00:15:12] I know, now we're going to keep talking about food and all things about food. To continue on our food topic; we talk about vouchers from Uber. I think this is super smart, and I know you have lots of thoughts about this, but let me tee it up a little bit. So Hubers business are; they have Uber Eats. Uber itself is a driving service, but they are creating a way to incorporate both the discounts on rides and discounts on food. And just bringing in businesses that can either participate in giving a voucher for more food or giving a voucher for a ride. And I think that's a cool concept. Again, now you have tons of thoughts about it. 

Ryan Alford [00:15:54] So, yeah, you can do branded plays with this to brand the certificates and things you're doing. You can literally, and I think there are a lot of different angles for this. When you think about services and businesses where the customer has to either get rid of their car or might need a second person or something. I think this could be huge. I think doctors' offices, maybe things like that, think dealerships. So if your dealership and you have a service department to offer your customers pick up, and drop off those services in a branded way, I think it would be brilliant for every service dealership to have that. You probably can't do it for a twenty-dollar change, but for anything over one hundred 150 bucks -- give your client a branded experience for how they get Uber and how they pick it up. But it's provided by you, sponsored by you for the pickup and drop-off. The biggest pain point for vehicle service is that the loaner program stresses the dealerships because they don't have enough cars, the liability involved, and all that stuff. You put it on Uber, but you brand it for yourself. It can be a differentiator, or at least you will probably become table stakes eventually. I know some dealers do it or will offer it here and there, but I would be branding the hell out of it. 

Reiley Clarke [00:17:17] I think it's a super-smart play, and I'm looking forward to using it. I am a big Uber Eats person. So I'm looking forward to using that for sure. 

Ryan Alford [00:17:26] "The weather gets bad out, everybody has to come to work because I'm going to Uber you here". The weather doesn't get that bad in South Carolina. But I do like it. It's a great play by Uber, and I think we're going to get on top of it and differentiate ourselves. 

Riley Clarke [00:17:46] Our last topic for today and I just think it's hilarious. It's supersmart,  America standard is flushing your way and they have this toilet paper that has all the icons of things that have happened throughout the year that have been well, for lack of a better word, let's just say a "Shit Show" since we are talking about toilet paper. Let's bring it all. And you can just throw away the toilet paper and it's hilarious. And but there's a thing with it. I'm pretty sure, if I remember correctly, there's like a way to enter to be able to get the toilet paper. I think there is a give-away. 

Ryan Alford  [00:18:29] Oh, give away. There is a contest and that's where you give your information and you get a chance to win a roll of limited edition toilet paper. They're also giving away 450 rolls randomly by selecting the winner in three drawings. I think this is brilliant and I would have added to it but I didn't see this as part of it. You should be able to customise your toilet paper for everything you want to flush away from this year. If you could come on and add personalisation to it, put in your things, and then they send it to you. They could sell this in their store, e-commerce. Here's your idea. American Standards call us if you want to take these ideas a little further. Maybe they thought about it, and they didn't have the infrastructure. And it might have been an idea that came up like a week ago, but they wanted to implement it. It strikes me as possible. But I think it's a great brand-play hilarious, plays on the mindset. Good PR for the brand. We're talking about it, so it must be good PR. It has to be good if it's made our cut on the news. Good play by American Standard, but let's personalise it. Let's think about it. This could be an ongoing thing. What do you want to flush away in your life?  

Reiley Clarke  [00:19:43] That's a really good whole campaign and of itself to your point, I mean, like what else happened this year that you're like, "I just want to forget about that". 

Ryan Alford [00:19:51] Or just ever literally. If you want your bad habits to go away this could be customization. What were you trying to push out of your life? And every time you use the bathroom, hey, we all use the bathroom every day, you're reminded of what you're trying to get rid of. 

Reiley Clarke [00:20:08] Absolutely. Oh oh, American standard here, you might call us! 

Ryan Alford  [00:20:13] Or there you go. You just do it. That one is free. 

Reiley Clarke  [00:20:18] Just kidding. That's it for us today news-wise. And by the time this releases and we have our next episode, Christmas has already passed. So if you celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas, and happy holidays to everyone else as well. 

Ryan Alford [00:20:33] And for sure. I appreciate everyone who listens. And Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Whatever you celebrate, celebrate it safely. We'll be together forever. 

Reiley Clarke [00:20:48] Merry Christmas to you too. 

 Ryan Alford [00:20:50] You know we'll be together for another week? 

Reiley Clarke [00:20:53] I know we'll see each other still. But you know everyone else, Happy Holidays. 

Ryan Alford [00:21:01] Alright guys, we'll see you next time on the Radcast. Follow along at theradcast.com. Happy Holidays.