Stuart Elliott ponders, "Why is Ray-Ban saying, 'Don’t shade your peepers'? The idea is to find a playful way to encourage younger consumers, particularly those ages 18 to 25, to assert their individuality by revealing their sense of personal style." Naturally, Ray-Ban's new campaign from TBWA/Chiat/Day San Francisco needs a consumer generated media component. It has one. You can upload a picture of yourslf wearing …
Desperately Seeking Risk Tolerance, Rigor and Speed
Advertising Age's Emily Tan asked some of digital's top movers to identify the biggest trends and challenges that lie ahead for brands and those who would serve them. Shane Steele, director-emerging media and online advertising at Coca-Cola Co. offers a client's perspective: "The ideal is to identify and test new platforms that offer a first-mover advantage, that are measurable and that can be scaled effectively to …
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Text Buzz: Wireless To Wired
According to Seattle Times, Starbucks fields thousands of calls each year from customers phoning from the road to find the nearest Starbucks store. Customers with cellphones and mobile devices can now save themselves the call. Mobile users can send a text message with the area's zip code to MYSBUX (697289), and a list of nearby Starbucks stores will pop back. I just tested it and it works. Now, if someone comes up …
Disney Goes Bridal
Talk about some big time brand extensions: BusinessWeek reports on Disney's new line of designer bridal gowns. Disney is taking a bold step into a market dominated by designers like Vera Wang with high-end cachet. But Mickey Mouse is no stranger to the altar. In 1991, Disney World in Orlando, Fla., launched its Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons service. The popularity of the program and the number of available …
Big Sister
I've said it before and I'll say it again: The best consumer-generated ads we've seen out there are for political campaigns. And this is just a sample of what we're in for in 2008: As I understand it, this wasn't sanctioned by the Obama campaign. But I love it. …
The Ten Biggest Cocks In Advertising
Can I get the U.S. rights to do this over here? …
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Ad Age Seeing Red
Ad Age explores reactions to the much ballyhooed Red campaign designed to benefit the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The campaign's inherent appeal to conspicuous consumption has spurred a parody by a group of San Francisco designers and artists, who take issue with Bono's rallying cry. "Shopping is not a solution. Buy less. Give more," is the message at buylesscrap.org, which encourages people …
The Law Of The Advertising Landscape
With the recent bi-partisan effort to enact further restrictions on tobacco advertising, I decided to explore the issue further. Just how much does advertising and marketing need to be regulated? It doesn’t matter who’s in power in Washington—there are both Democrats and Republicans who want to impose the additional tobacco regulations. It seems we are living in an ever-growing nanny state, and there are other types …
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