Under The Influence
with Terry O'Reilly

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This week's episode is Part One of a special Two-Part series about the late Steve Jobs.

When you look at his vast technical accomplishments, it's easy to forget he was a great marketer. As a matter of fact, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak said that marketing was Jobs' greatest skill. In Part One, we look at his boldness as a marketer, how and where it first showed itself in his early 20s, his offer to pay for the Super Bowl ad time when the Apple board hated the famous "1984" Mac launch TV ad, his vindication when "1984" was cited as maybe the best TV ad of all time, his eventual ouster from Apple only one year later, and his return, 12 years later, in 1997. It was then that he commissioned the audacious "Think Different" ad campaign while, unbeknownst to most, Apple was just weeks away from bankruptcy. It was a huge gamble, but it secured the future of Apple.

That success launches Part Two of our series, as we will look at his many marketing strategies from 1997 to his death in 2011.

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**NOTE: THIS ONE EPISODE WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR PODCAST DOWNLOAD DUE TO COPYRIGHT ISSUES SURROUNDING THE MUSIC CONTENT. IT WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING AND ON-DEMAND ONLY.

Subscribe to the podcast series free to have each new episode delivered to your computer every week. After 2 weeks, past episodes of Under the Influence will become available for purchase on iTunes.

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This week, we explore the use of hit songs in advertising.

There is a theory that Madison Avenue started to use songs in advertising in a big way after the movie "The Big Chill" was released. When advertisers saw the way baby boomers responded to the movie's soundtrack, it opened the floodgates. Many recording artists resisted the offers, while others saw the revenue potential and began to license their songs for the first time. It's been a long and interesting journey: The Beatles sued, Madonna got rich and Bob Seger made a difficult decision to help the auto industry. Today, many new artists now actively search for opportunities to have their music in commercials - because it gives them added visibility and sales.

It's a full circle moment for music and advertising.

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This week we explore the fascinating history of the classified ads.

We start with the very first classified ad in North America, and trace its history through to the explosion of online classified columns today. At any given time, a glance at the classifieds tells us exactly what we were wearing, what we had lost, what we wanted to find and how some of us search for love. We'll look at the phenomenon of "Runaway Slave" ads - and the fact that nine of the first twelve U.S. Presidents owned slaves. From "Lost and Found" to "Help Wanted" to the first "Real Estate" ad to the wild and sometimes funny world of contemporary "Personal" ads, the classified section is an incredible chronicle of our existence.

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This week, we look at famous brands that built their companies without advertising. It's so rare in this world to build a multi-million, or multi-billion dollar company without relying heavily on advertising. But several companies have influenced millions of customers by doing just that - with enormous success. Instead of ads, some took a stand on social issues, some gave back to their communities, all relied on superlative customer service that would generate word-of-mouth, and each one stayed passionately connected to their customers.

It's a rare and remarkable strategy.

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Subscribe to the podcast free to have each new episode delivered to your computer every week. After 2 weeks, past episodes of Under the Influence will become available for purchase on iTunes.

Here are the visual elements from this week's episode:

There is an odd truism in this world that men generally love The Three Stooges.

Source: YouTube

And the majority of women can't stand them.

Yet, an overwhelming percentage of women love romantic stories, and the films made from period pieces that explore issues of the heart:

Source: YouTube

Which, generally speaking, repels men.

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Welcome to the premiere of "Under The Influence."

In this first episode, we look at the profound influence the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) are about to exert on North America.

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He is the 7th most mentioned Brazilian outside of Brazil.

He had a song written about him.

There is a dish named after him in a top Sao Paulo restaurant.

There is a movie currently being developed about his life.
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