Brand New Day: Advertising agencies are generally viewed as nothing more than organized, high priced hucksters. But here is what one agency did, quickly, to dispel that stereotype. Austin, Texas shop GSD&M called the Ad Council on Wednesday morning, when the rest of us got the full picture of how awful the situation is, to volunteer to put together radio and television advertisements for the Red Cross. By Thursday …
Let The Product Or Service Speak
The Hidden Persuader posted this Neil Frenchism last week. "The answer to making an ad is always in the product, if you look for it. Our task is not just to find that answer though - it's to make the answer relevant to someone who, at present, doesn't give a shit about it. So first I look at the product and deconstruct it ... what Robin Wight used to call 'interrogating it until it confesses to its …
Respecting The Channel
Beer is sold through a distribution channel. Often times, beer marketers even call the distributor "the customer," since the distributor has to be sold first, before the end user. According to Adweek, Budweiser is placing increased empahasis on their distribution channel. Anheuser-Busch is about to debut folksy TV ads in its bid to be more local by loosening compliance standards for its wholesaler network, giving …
Change Is The Only Constant
Tom Asacker unleashed a pearl on change. There are two types of change: change within a system of beliefs; beliefs that stay the same. And change in your system of beliefs; e.g. your assumptions about the marketplace, customers, and your role. If you want to change, you have to change twice. Yes, you must change the reality of the situation. But you must also change how you view that reality. The business world is …
Hey Jack Kerouac
The Gap did some wonderful ads a few years back. The reason I say "wonderful" is because the ads used celebrities in a refreshing way. Jack Kerouac Wore Khakis. That's clean. And clean is nice. Now, The Gap has a new set of celebs—Liz Phair, Keith Urban, Joss Stone, Jason Mraz and Alanis Morissette—plus a new look-and-feel to the ads. The photography is striking, for sure, but the ads lack that certain "throwback …
Technorati Drinking Google Juice
Hugh MacLeod points to a new Technorati feature, where it's easy to find blogs by category. In the Advertising category, Adjab is ranked atop the list. Whereas Adrants is not ranked at all. I expect that to change shortly, when Steve Hall finds out about this and enters appropriate "tags" that will lead to his media property being ranked high, if not at the top of this list. The fact Adrants is not there now calls …
Mr. Bill Knew What Would Happen To New Orleans
Yes. THIS Mr. Bill... In 2004, he appeared in a number of PSA's designed to inform New Orleans citizens about the importance of protecting our wetlands. Click here. Watch "Hurricane Sluggo." (I think you need Windows Media Player to watch it). Walter Williams, Mr. Bill's creator, is a native of New Orleans, I believe. I'm sure he had no idea how exactly right he turned out to be. …
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DeVille Is Dundee
USA Today: Cadillac is killing DeVille — the name, not the car. It has redesigned the model that's been DeVille and renamed it DTS — which has stood for DeVille Touring Sedan on previous models — to conform with Caddy's three-letter model names: SRX, XLR, STS. (Submit questions now: Chat with James R. Healey, 2 p.m. ET) Caddy says it has used the name DeVille continuously since 1949 and has sold 6 million quite …
