The Post-Advertising Era 1.4. The Toughest Woman Alive.

No it's not my mom, or even my first wife. The toughest woman alive lives in Copenhagen and I have been proud to call her my friend and collaborator, for almost 20 years now.

I first met Annett Wolf, Sr. (Annett Wolf, Jr. is a legendary Hollywood publicist) placed firmly at the end of the table in the conference room of the L'Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills back in 1987.

She had total command of the space even though the meeting was supposedly chaired by multimillionaire hotelier Sevryn Ashkanazy, my client at the time. She would later tell me, "Everyone has money, my friend. Style is a bit harder to come by."

VOLUME
FIFTY-ONE
WEDNESDAY
AUGUST 24, 2005

A descendent of a venerable Danish wine dynasty, Annett Wolf had migrated to Hollywood because of her love of film. Annett literally invented the "Making Of" genre.

She has interviewed everyone from Elvis to Fred Astaire and at the point in her life when we first met; she was producing a series of wonderful "Salons" for the L'Ermitage Foundation and Children's Hospital's.

What gives you the balls to declare that the "Age of Advertising" is over. Advertising will be here long after you're dead and gone.DS, Phila.

I'm already dead and gone, This column is being done by my Ghost Writer. -HW

I was late for this particular meeting and when questioned by Mr. Ashkenazi as to my whereabouts, I mentioned a prior meeting with then L.A. City Attorney Jim Hahn to come up with an innovative solution to the city's deadly gang violence epidemic. This is when I came to realize that Annett Wolf was not your garden variety Great Dane.

After the meeting she cornered me and said, "My friend you must tell me all about this thing you are doing with the gangs. Perhaps I can go down there and be of assistance."

Go down there? This petite well turned out Dane with the flaming red hair and cultured European accent? Go down to the Nickerson Gardens Housing Projects in Watts; the "Killing Fields," and be of assistance.

Well, damned if she didn't do exactly that and turn 23 hard core teenage Bloods gangmembers into the finely polished cast of "Crossfire," the 45 minute video stage play that was credited by the Los Angeles Times as being the first serious effort by the LA Gangs to stop the war. A war that had claimed more than 10,000 young lives before this lady had decided enough was enough.

Now, 18 years later this 68 year old woman of steel and president of the Wolf Foundation are on another seemingly impossible quest. She has begun the development of "Tears of The Wolf," a 90 minute documentary that seeks to portray the tracking and slaughter of the last truly free species in the in North America. The Great Arctic White Wolf.

When she told me about this dream of hers two years ago, from the comfort of her cozy apartment overlooking beautiful Copenhagen, I said to her. "But my dear, you are recovering from a surgery that nearly cost you your life and the sub-Arctic tundra is no romp in the park." Silly me.

To think I could turn around a force of nature on the mission of a lifetime. She patiently smiled and told me she would be leaving for the Canadian Arctic in the summer. And so she did.

She did 50 days in the Barrenlands of the Canadian Northwest Territories as though it were simply yet another location scout. She brought back the amazing story of the first Nations told to her by the elders. The Dene Indian First Nation that continues to struggle to protect the environment and it's wildlife from the encroaching "civilization".

Biologist, Dr. L. David Mech, one of the foremost authorities on High Arctic wolves, states (in a recent article in WWF's Arctic Bulletin) that the climatic change in the Arctic does not always mean that temperatures are rising. Dr. Mech suggests that a colder summer climate seems to play a part in the decline of the current wolf population in the High Arctic.

Tracking the ever-elusive white wolf for days on end was a cathartic experience for Annett, as well as an emotional roller coaster ride of gloom, insecurity and fear of failing. But most of all, it was an experience of great joy and finally liberation. As Annett hiked and crawled on her belly through endless sand eskers and tundra in pursuit of the wolf, a mere change of wind could turn a hard day's work into yet another disappointment. Of the experience, Annett states,"It pushed me to the limit and inspired me to overcome my self-doubts, thus opening my eyes to the wonders of this incredible land: it taught me to see, hear, smell and listen again."

Annett brought back the spectacular photos of the land that time forgot, until the now of oil and mineral exploitation. And she brought back the experience of tracking and waiting and watching and finally encountering one of the most elusive of God's remaining renegades. The Arctic White Wolf.

Annett is bent upon bringing the plight of these few survivors to the world's attention. Nordisk Film, one of Europe's largest and most important film and television studios has taken the project under its wing and those of us who know and honor this remarkable woman are actively seeking to help her raise the $1.4 million it will take to realize "Tears Of The Wolf" from a mission to a reality. If your company would like to sponsor this important film click here and allow the journey to begin.

The Importance of Heroes.

The story above is the true-to-life journey of one woman who has put everything at risk to follow that which she believes to be important in life. As our society becomes more and more homogeneous across political boundaries and geographic time zones these values will become increasingly important as the items that both separate us and bring us together.

More important than "product benefits" will become "Product Values". Not "Value" but "Values." As we look at the story of Annett Wolf and her journey, we need to consider what kind of companies might prove to be consistent marketing partners for adventures such as these. Because in the Post-Advertising Era, brands will be judged by the company they keep.

This means that those responsible for the stewardship of a brand are going to be required to pay far more attention to the "environment" in which their products are presented.

Personality evaluation by exposure alone ended with the lackluster sales impact of Paris Hilton's over the top "Car Wash" commercial for Carl's Jr. Recent "Skankvertising" outings with Maria Carey, Beyonce and Britney Spears have also proven less then stellar investments for their sponsors. Which begs the question, what is the difference between "Celebrities" and "Heroes."

Well, of course, the big difference is name recognition. A whole lot more people know Britney Spears, than know Annett Wolf. That name recognition establishes the difference in price between the two when it comes to product endorsement. But the world is changing.

Post-Advertising Era marketing decision makers now know that someone like Annett Wolf will have far more credibility with consumers 49+ for a product like Anacin, then will Britney Spears or Beonce.

Today's consumers are far more skeptical about celebrity endorsements then they are about sponsors underwriting a film that seeks to illuminate a serious ecological issue or conservation concern. Television programming executives refer to it as "takeaway." In otherwords, what does the audience member gain as a result of watching a given show ( besides mind rot ).

In the Age of Advertising, practitioners never even considered such a factor. They were obsessed with values like "recall" and "persuasion," which ultimately resulted in white guys in gray flannel suits sitting around talking about things that had no bearing whatsoever on the perceptions of real people in the real world.

Meanwhile, life provides us with heroes the little surfer girl who got her arm eaten off by the shark, and then immediately went back into the water. Dayam, now that's the kind of heroic stuff you can use on any given work day you care to mention.

Stuff your brand can take to the bank. Heroes prove to us that you can go up against insurmountable odds and emerge victorious, or at least intact. They show us that the human condition, is in fact "human," and not the airbrushed nipples of a Playboy centerfold or the endless perfect hair days and Colgate smiles that have been paraded past us as impossible roll models on endless 30 second potty breaks.

In the Post-Advertising Era's horserace between celebrities and heroes, the smart money will be on the heroes. And the celebrities will be the brands that put their money on substance over style, to win.

Stay tuned .