Microsoft is pretty sure its new Windows Phone is faster than your Android or iPhone. At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Microsoft conducted the "Smoked by Windows Phone" challenge. CES attendees were offered $100 if their smartphone beat the Windows Phone. According to the Seattle Times, the final tally for Windows Phone at the CES challenge: 30 wins, three losses, one tie. So what's up with the …
Apparently, Pigs Can Fly. And Talk With Some ‘Tude.
Courtesy of Atlanta's Fitzgerald + Company, a new campaign for Bottom Dollar Food shuns the traditional fresh produce close-ups and bakery shots for a flying piggy bank with 'tude. …
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Should American Brands Wrap Themselves In The Flag?
This new GE spot touts American manufacturing, but treads lightly so as not to feel too jingoistic. Obviously, GE is a global company. So what's an American company to do these days about its heritage? How far will "Made in America" take a brand? In the past few weeks, we’ve seen Apple take a few lumps in the press because of the working conditions at the Chinese factories that make their products. There …
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The Probelem With Conceived In California, But Made In China
President Obama wants "Made In America" to mean something again. And it's no wonder, when "Made In China" comes with as many human rights questions as it does. As you may have heard, over 300 employees at a Foxconn plant in Wuhan, China recently threatened to throw themselves off a building in a mass suicide. Foxconn manufactures consumer products for Apple, HP, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and several other …
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Google Goes For The Heartstrings As Well As The Eyeballs
Google is one company that definitely doesn't rest. Nor are they immune from good ol' fashioned advertising efforts. The New York Times has more: Lorraine Twohill, Google’s vice president for global marketing, would not disclose how much the company had increased its advertising spending, but said there had been a shift in strategy. “As we got bigger, we had more competition, more products, more messages to …
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The Key Rebrands A Car Dealership And Flips The Category On Its Head
I love, love, love it when a brand markets itself in a way unlike anything else in its category. And that's happening in Oklahoma City right now with a used car dealership rebranded as The Key. While there's a brand video on the homepage, its Facebook page links to a 90 second spot that serves as a great intro to what the brand is all about. In addition to cars, lifetime maintenance, and financing, The …
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The Ad Industry Is Quite Cold To Brands That Aren’t Cool
In the course of my career, I've done a lot of good work for brands that simply weren't cool. And if you're an observer of our industry and the people who comment on it, you know that brands that are seemingly out of favor have a tougher time gaining traction -- even when there's good marketing behind those brands. For advertising professionals, the struggle occurs because we know even mundane brands are …
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Brand Against The Machine Shows You How To Get Control Again
I’m not quite sure what it means when you call yourself “The Chuck Norris of Branding,” as John Morgan does. But if you’re looking for a dose of marketing knowledge laced with a bit of aggression, you’ll find it in his book, Brand Against the Machine: How to Build Your Brand, Cut Through the Marketing Noise and Stand Out From The Competition. Morgan does something in this book that I haven’t really seen …
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