Article by Portland-based copywriter, Robert Moss. Why are DDB, TBWA, Deutsch and Leo Burnett not going to pitch Sears? It's a huge account, they spent $500 million in advertising last year. Because Sears demanded that every agency that pitches them give up ownership of everything they present, whether they win the business or not, and without compensation. The 4A's has been very clear about the fact that …
Diet Pepsi Refreshes Its Can
With energy drinks, and so-called performance drinks cutting into soda pop's market share, Diet Pepsi has decided to launch a "skinny" can in order to better compete. According to Ad Age, PepsiCo is building a major marketing program around their new Skinny Can, slated to run throughout 2011. "The challenge is making sure that packaging is a legitimate way to do marketing," said Ms. Ami Irazabal, marketing director …
Brand Relevance Aims For Differentiation
Some days, it's easy to think we live in a world of sameness. Where all brands and products look and sound alike. Not so, says David Aaker, the author of Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant. Aaker takes a very systemic approach to talking about how many companies and brands have successfully differentiated themselves. One of the good things I like is his focus on a few major categories for his case …
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St. Luke’s Wants To Be Something You Believe In
BVK's effort to rebrand St Luke's Health System in Kansas City has been revealing itself in recent weeks. In addition to the outdoor, BVK also created these TV spots for St. Luke's: …
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Know Your Usage Laws. Or Pay Up.
I don't think I'll try to pull an appropriate image for this post. From SFGate.com: In May, 2010, with the assumption Web images without copyright notices were "public domain" and free to use, a Webcopyplus copywriter used Google images to find an unmarked 400 x 300 pixel scenic photo to complement an article for a tourism client's blog. In December, 2010, the client received a formal cease and desist demand and …
J. C. Penny Caught Slumming In The “Subterranean World of ‘Black Hat’ Optimization”
According to David Segal of The New York Times, J. C. Penny gamed Google's search results and is now paying the price for its actions. At 7 p.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, J. C. Penney was still the No. 1 result for "Samsonite carry on luggage." Two hours later, it was at No. 71. At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Penney was No. 1 in searches for "living room furniture." By 9 p.m., it had sunk to No. 68. It seems J. C. Penny …
The AdPulp Poll: eBook Kickstart
After reading Chris Guillebeau's free PDF download, "279 Nights to Overnight Success," last week, I have to admit I'm tempted to buy one of his Unconventional Guides. I'm intrigued because I think a curated piece from AdPulp that's affordable and portable might be well received. Of course, I'd love to know just how well received before I embark on the making eBooks journey. So, help me out here, would you buy an …
No One’s Asking For Contextual Ads, But People Do Ask, And Pay For, The Help They Need
Writer, traveler and entrepreneur, Chris Guillebeau, doesn't like AdSense, the Google product that lets publishers place ads on their site in return for a trickle of change. Here's a passage from his free PDF download, "279 Nights to Overnight Success": Guillebeau doesn't run ads on his site, instead he sells Unconventional Guides in eBook form. One of his guides, "Empire Building Kit," offers to show buyers how to …
