Something Real in Times of Hunches
Through these economic times, one trend in advertising that we have seen surface is the attempt to communicate a message of either support, “we’re there with you”, or longevity, “we’re not going anywhere”. We saw some of these ads surface after last year’s super bowl such as Saturn’s Total Confidence Ads. News stories point to a nearing [...]
A Warning For Tough Economic Times
I found this today and had to share: It’s so true – so much of our capitalistic society is built upon perception. If people perceive that the market is bad, they will do things that perpetuate just that, like take all of their money out of the stock market. The same applies to companies. Similarly, [...]
Faceless People Explained
Some of you might remember the buzz recently about a few high profile sightings of faceless people at well-attended, upscale events, including Wimbledon. Word spread quickly that it was some sort of viral campaign from sports car manufacturer Lotus. I was intrigued, so I went to the campaign Web site, www.facelesspeople.com, and signed up [...]
7-Election
Have you guys seen this 7-Election campaign that 7-11 started promoting just recently? As a general rule, it really plucks my last nerve when brands resort to election themed campaigns around election time. I think it’s kind of a weak strategy, particularly since it must be true that by now most Americans have been election-ed [...]
Don’t Panic. Stay The Course.
So, unless you’re living under a reaaaaaally big rock, you probably know that the economy isn’t doing so well right now. And it’s not getting any better, with news yesterday that the Government’s financial bailout package didn’t make its way through Congress – Immediately sending the Dow down almost 800 points. Yikes. With all this trouble [...]
It Gets Worse
Ok, this couldn’t have been in Microsoft’s game plan…The Microsoft/Seinfeld/CP+B saga continues with new claims that someone uncovered proof that the new ad campaign was created on a Mac! Here’s the scoop, courtesy of Roughly Drafted Magazine: Flickr user LuisDS found that metadata on the creative copy of the “stereotyped PC user” and other photos [...]
I’m A PC And I Have A Beard
The next in the series of new Microsoft ads has been released. I like it. But it totally doesn’t relate to the Seinfeld/Gates commercials. And…didn’t I just see an interview with Pharrell Williams where he proclaimed himself a Mac guy? Tsk tsk. Maybe he fell for the Mojave Experiment???? Still NO mention of Vista, [...]
I’m Confused…
Breaking news: It appears the remainder of Microsoft’s $300 million campaign that I’ve discussed HERE and HERE will not feature Jerry Seinfeld. Microsoft is calling it a “planned second phase” in the campaign, but if that’s true, it’s a way more perplexing move than either of the first two spots. Here are some excerpts from [...]
Humility Pays, Even In Advertising
Ego can be a dangerous thing, even in advertising where it’s common practice to gratuitously ‘toot one’s own horn.’ The problem is, it can be taken too far. Too much ego turns consumers off quickly – their eyes glaze over nearly instantly and once that happens, there’s no chance of getting them back. I think [...]
Engaging Consumers Through Advertising
The goal of any advertiser is to create an advertising campaign that engages the target audience. We want to create something that makes people take notice and perhaps even more importantly, take action. Chevrolet recently created an outdoor campaign in London that did both of those things–whether or not it was truly effective is in [...]
Creepy Vespa Creative From Canada
I found this via Adfreak and thought it was worth sharing. Like Adfreak, I found something a bit disturbing about the execution of these outdoor exhibitions, which were seen in Canada. While the brief probably talked about showing that Vespa riders have a certain sense of style of which the Vespa is a part, I [...]
Make My Logo Bigger Cream
Thanks to Wendy at our research & information partner Scherer Cybrarian for passing along this link: www.makemylogobiggercream.com. Oh, and if you haven’t signed up for their Research Redux 3-minute newsletter, you probably should! It’s a great read! Makemylogobiggercream.com is a site that makes light of the fact that one of the more common knee-jerk reactions [...]
What’s Wrong With This Ad?
EJ came to me this morning with an advertisement that was quite interesting. At first glance, mainly because I was looking, I didn’t see what was so wrong about it. But then, WHAM, there it was. Isn’t it funny how the execution of an ad can so quickly change the meaning? Yikes. As Sarah pointed [...]
People For The Proper
I wanted to pass along a campaign that I thought was actually pretty cool from this week’s Mediapost Out to Launch column, which is written and published each week by Amy Corr. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend you go check it out here. The campaign I like was done by one of the [...]
Copycat Ads
I just stumbled upon this site and even though it’s written in French, it’s worth the read. http://www.joelapompe.net/. It’s an archive of “copycat” advertising. A wise man once said, “There are no new ideas. Only old ideas made better.” I happen to agree with that sentiment, personally. Here is one of my favorite copycat examples. [...]
Did You Get Your Letter?
We did!! We were notified today by the Advertising Association of Baltimore that Orange Element has received five Addy awards for their work in 2007! That makes two years straight that we won five awards. Not bad, eh? Garret Ohm www.orange-element.com
Speaking of NSTLOD – The Story of Garbagio
I’ve been mentioning the Advertising Association of Baltimore’s Never Saw the Light of Day awards a whole bunch lately, so I figured I’d take a minute to show off the creative we did to promote the event. The creative took the form of a series of HTML emails sent out to the AAB’s database of [...]
Tattoos Are No Longer Just Art
You guys might remember a previous blog posting where I discussed anti-ad-campaigns, and how marketers were analyzing sub-culture trends to empower influencers to market for them. Well, here’s another one for you. It seems marketers have recently turned to asking consumers to tattoo themselves with their logos and taglines. Sometimes these consumers are accepting pay, [...]
Hot, Juicy Burgers
This one’s been out a while, but I saw it again the other night and remembered I wanted to write about it when I had the chance. I’m really digging this whole campaign, actually. Not only is it artfully designed and directed, but it also really does a great job of communicating the brand’s distinction–that [...]
The Emergence Of Anti-Ad Campaigns
I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about Nike’s recent marketing strategy shift that has them shuttering traditional endorsement icons like Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan for underground influencers like Mister Cartoon, a prominent tatoo artist in California. Mister Cartoon has, over the past few years, achieved a cult-like following in the [...]
Is The Message Getting Lost?
As someone with a background in and love for advertising, I have always been a fan of the “big idea.” The idea and process of coming up with one driving concept for a campaign has always fascinated me. Having been involved in this process on numerous occasions I can honestly say that it is increasingly [...]
May 14, 2008 | Categories:Blog Posts | Tags: Advertising, Commentary, Thoughts & Analysis | Leave A Comment »