How long does it take for a campaign to launch for the big boy of media- network TV? How do you reach a lot of people fast? Is the Superbowl ad the way to go?
Forget what you know- and what you think you know- blogs spread faster, especially among cutting edge opinion makers and early adopters.
Today these stats were being bandied around on adrants:

that 29 percent of traffic to a site created as part of a recent Audi A3 campaign was generated by advertising on the BlogAds network. The kicker is that 29 percent was achieved with just one half of one percent of the overall media budget. Let’s say it again, advertising on weblogs deliver Audi 29 percent of all responding yet took just on half of one percent of the budget to do so.

It’s no longer the size of your budget that matters, it’s the quality of the content. Mckinney Silver of Durham NC created a scavenger hunt for the new Audi A3 they used a variety of media- including network tv to launch, but the numbers showed that on day 10- in the case study- that the interest was coming from blogs.
And- as a note- for a big-time agency- that “gets the web”- their really expensive Flash based site gets them 8 pages indexed in Google- with no real content showing up in the search results- another example of an agency telling people to do what I say- not as I do.
Blogs connect you with customers. Learn it, repeat it, do it, and link away.

What do you think?

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Posted in: Advertising, Everything you want to know about advertising, Guerrilla campaigns, Marketing & the Web, Web strategy

I’ve tried to explain this too many times in meetings, so here it is on paper. Just because you can “Blog” on a WordPress powered site, doesn’t mean you have to.
The word “Blog” is still not understood by a lot of people, they think it has to be like a journal, a daily entry of whatever one feels like writing. Yes, it can be, there are a lot of very bad, very boring “Blogs” out there.
That doesn’t mean it has to be like that for business.
WordPress is an open-source (meaning the code that runs it is open to the developers who work on it collectively for free) software program that runs on the server (the computer that hosts a web site). It can run on any platform (Windows, Linux, Mac) but I prefer to run it on Linux- another open source solution. It requires the backend database, MySQL and PHP (both open source software solutions). It takes very little time to install and have up and running compared to trying to do a conventional HTML site in something like Dreamweaver (or GoLive or if you are desperate: Frontpage) even using templates.
Wordpress is a database driven display system for information that one, or multiple users can enter data in easily- and have it display as properly coded HTML that is searchable and works well with search engines like Google, Yahoo and the like.
This allows any company to keep their information up to date, quickly, efficiently, and with “good” code that is readable by search engines and even people using screen readers (who are visually impaired).
It does this by generating code that uses CSS (cascading style sheets), which is a lot like using a style sheet in a word processing document. This allows the owner of a WordPress site to change the look and feel of a site instantly by changing the CSS- or “Theme” by checking a check box. How easy is that? Try doing it with a hard coded site without CSS. Days, weeks. CSS is the smart persons way to build a site.
We have integrated the WordPress engine into other sites so you can barely tell it’s there: see the Rogero Buckman Architects news section, or this section of our site. Since adding the WordPress driven news section to our site hits have grown almost logarithmically every month. Not all hits generate business, but it has taken our site from being someplace that people stumble across, to a place that is actively showing up on the top page of Google search consistently.
One of the ways we have added to our sites popularity is our list of competitors. We had this on the site before, but it was static HTML, and was edited infrequently. Because of the ease of edit in WordPress, we update it as soon as we find a new firm. Why do we list our competitors you may ask? Well, we’re not afraid of competition and comparison to start off with, and because many ad agencies and design firms don’t use code that works well (or at all) with search engines. It’s actually kind of embarrassing. The point of the web is to deliver information- quickly and easily. We offer the list as a public service, since people searching for an ad agency or graphic design shop or marketing consultant in Dayton/Columbus/Cincinnati could be looking for us. It’s a basic part of marketing- being part of the evoked set- the set of options that comes to mind when thinking about purchasing a product or service- but I digress from the advantages of a WordPress blog. Soon people won’t turn to the Google local is on the upswing, but until it is more reliable, we provide this list as a service.
Another thing we’ve learned from our WordPress section of the site is that we can’t predict what search terms or phrases people use to find our competition or us. People type in odd things, and with our large numbers of marketing related words in our news section, we seem to hit more searches than our cheeky copy on the static part of the site.
It won’t be long before almost all sites are built around active engines like WordPress. Just as video production has been demystified by Apple with iMovie, and DVD creation with iDVD, WordPress is a tool that puts the power of the web into the hands of every business.
The ease of inserting links into text in WordPress also serves as an incentive to do it often. It may seem silly to some, but the frequency of links in and out are a key factor in search engine optimization. While incoming links are better than outgoing, links begat more links- trust me.
Every article in WordPress is a separate page. This is very important to your site’s visitors. How often have you navigated deep into a site, found some information that you wanted to share- and tried to send that page to a co-worker and couldn’t do it? The site was probably either built in Flash or Frames- both bad for Search- and bad for bookmarking and sharing. You can click on the title to this article and send it as a link to as many people as you want. It will also show up in Google as a complete, single page, with a descriptive snippet of text under it. A simple way to see what Google sees of your site is by going to Google and typing in site:yoursiteurl.com (or biz or net etc.) and seeing how many pages you index and what they show to visitors- I’ve made the link to this site so you can see how The Next Wave.biz site indexes.
This is a longer article than I planned to write, but this is an important subject. There are a few other key strengths to WordPress: the content is searchable, it’s organizable (using categories) and best of all, it provides RSS feeds that allow people to subscribe to you site and be notified every time you post- saving you from having to PUSH your message out with e-mail (which more people are starting to consider SPAM if it isn’t addressed individually and customized- but that’s another story).
I found this short article, “Wordpress, or “How I finally built the website I needed” on someone else’s experience with WordPress and it inspired me to write this. Hopefully now, I won’t have to spend as much time explaining why a Blog is a site and is a highly effective business tool. And maybe a few of my clients will finally understand why I want to update their sites to use it.

What do you think?

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Posted in: Advertising, Everything you want to know about advertising, Marketing & the Web

The offer I made to Katrina displaced ad people was picked up by Newhouse News Service, owners of many papers – including The Times-Picayne of New Orleans. The article, “Employers give back by hiring Katrina’s Evacuees” by Katherine Reynolds Lewis speaks about the personal worth issues of those who’ve lost everything- and how to bring meaning back to their lives. Here is the section about The Next Wave:

David Esrati, chief creative officer of the Next Wave in Dayton, Ohio, has offered a job and studio space on several advertising industry Web sites.
“What you do is who you are,” Esrati said, “and if you’re sitting around doing something that’s not what you do, it’s real easy to get discouraged. Despair takes over.”

read the whole article.

Special thanks to Jack Goldenberg of Einstein Da Vinci & Goldenberg- who worked tirelessly to get this story out. Also, thanks to Matthew Richmond of the Chopping Block who built Displaceddesigner.com.

What do you think?

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Posted in: Careers in Advertising, Everything you want to know about advertising

“We don’t do guerrilla,” says a big agency in NYC, they also “don’t do web” and, no, you have to hire a design firm to do your collateral- we’re an Advertising Agency (with capital “A’s” for effect). When you get to local agencies, it’s even worse- at least around Dayton Ohio and vicinity (that would be Columbus and Cincinnati too) where they don’t even get the advertising part right.
Selling isn’t something companies can do part time. By that, I mean, your brand must live 24/7 in the world- that means on store shelves and the customers cerebral cortex. Your employees should eat, sleep and breathe your product. Think about the employees at Harley Davidson, Apple, Nike – do you think anyone rides a Yamaha into Harleys HQ or anyone is using a Dell that works at Apple- or running a marathon in Reebok’s if they work at Nike- the answer isn’t no, it’s hell no.
So- if your agency can only do one part of the dance that is critical to marketing in these days of fractured media and message overload, you may as well just give up. It ain’t going to happen. Driving your message home isn’t about creating a campaign today, run it for the next six months and work on the next one. It’s rapid fire and maneuver, because if you aren’t shooting your message at your target, your competition is.
There is no one magic media; there is no one great ad that will sell it all. You put an ad out there and you start working on a new angle to hit the market in a different way. You won’t be able to score the same way twice, the landscape changes too quickly.
So, what is a brand manager to do? A couple of things have to change- it’s time to pay for creative- and pay well, forget about the media commissions, how was anyone supposed to really make money on a 15% commission anyway? The rest of the world works on 40 points, so, if you think 15% is going to get you great ads- instead of great media bills, you can go home right now.
The scope of the work should change too. It’s not about just ads- it’s the whole experience that has to match. Expect the website, the brochures, the field work- all to have the same consistent voice, coming from the same people- the agency in partnership with the brand manager. It used to be called “integrated marketing communications” – now the “total brand experience” may be more apt.
It’s also critical to be flexible- to experiment with new media, new placement, new ideas, and especially a new honesty. Ads can entertain, but they also must inform. If you aren’t hitting an emotional chord with the audience while reaching for their gut and their brain at the same time, get back to the drawing board.
No one has time for ads anymore- they want to be part of something bigger. Your agencies job is to create that brand experience that makes the consumer feel a part of something bigger. Look at Harley Davidson’s Owners Groups (HOGS) or the Mac heads that will defend their computer to the death.
When an agency does get it, like Wieden + Kennedy got Nike, it’s a beautiful thing. So, instead of saying what an agency can and can’t do- find one that can Just Do It.

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Posted in: Advertising, Everything you want to know about advertising, Guerrilla campaigns

I don’t know why we haven’t posted something like this before, but a guy was asking how to find an agency for his “online drum recording service” on Web Pro World News- so this was our answer:

Fascinating business model. Only problem is that now all the prima donna guitar players can find a drummer that might put up with their BS

On finding an advertising agency- for any business- large or small- our first advice to anyone is to learn a little about advertising. Wehighly recommend the timeless classic by David Ogilvy, Ogilvy on Advertising. We also have a tip sheet, called “Conversational advertising for everyone” on our site.
Once you understand better what advertising can and can’t do- the next thing is deciding if you really need an agency, or can afford one. We have a saying: “Advertising only costs when it doesn’t work”- think about it. If you spend X on advertising and get X to the tenth back in revenue, and profit structure is right, your advertising didn’t cost you a thing and your business is better off for it.
If you can’t handle a huge influx of work from the money you spent on advertising, you will probably be in worse shape than not having any business- since bad word of mouth travels faster than good. If you have no budget consider the book “Marketing without advertising” by Salli Raspberry & Michael Phillips (it’s out of print but worth it).
If you think your model can handle the business- by all means start interviewing agencies. As someone who has been in the business for a while, I can tell you the first question to ask is what else have the people at the agency done for a living and what made them go into advertising?
Why- because this isn’t a business about being cute- or funny- or cool, on someone else’s dime- it’s about selling things, and it’s serious business. I don’t know how many people I’ve met in this business (especially graphic designers) who have no clue about selling something other than their own ideas.
The second question is- what are their passions? If I hate sports, I’m not going to do a good job advertising your professional bicycle pursuit championships, but if I eat, sleep and breath bikes in my limited spare time- I’ll probably go to the ends of the earth to create the greatest ad campaign ever.
The third question is do you like the people at the agency? The working relationship between advertising agencies and their clients is like a marriage. You are allowing the other person to take your name and represent it to the world. With so many marriages in this country ending in divorce, it’s a wonder any ad agency/client relationships have a chance. Most important to this relationship (as in a marriage) is mutual respect and trust.
I’ve been assuming that you are approaching an agency that is the right size for your company all along- although if you are a non-profit, or something really offbeat that can allow an agency a chance to do something really creative and fun- you might get lucky with a bigger firm. You should always look for an agency that can afford to give you the right amount of attention for your budget.
So- once you’ve made it this far- start looking at methodology. There are agencies that always use the same formula for all their clients- TV, magazine, online, direct mail etc. Sometimes it’s based more on their own profit model/structure than your needs- be careful of that. The best agencies sell creativity- and are “media agnostic,” Crispin Porter Bogusky, the current darlings of the ad world have grown from a small Miami shop to a huge powerhouse by making small clients seem huge, not by spending more, but doing better creative. They started with the “Truth” anti-smoking campaign, moved up a notch with the introduction of the Mini Cooper to the USA and now have Burger King and as of September 6, 2005 VW.
You have to be willing to pay for creativity- not just media. If an agency is using the stupid model of a percentage of your media budget is their take, they will only advise you to spend more on media.
Look to what kind of “Brand voice” the agencies under consideration establish for their clients. Is it consistent, is it clear, is it distinct? Do they use a variety of media to surround the potential customer with your message? Does it evoke emotion? Does it make you want to be a part of the brand? This is what Crispin did so well with the Mini “Let’s motor” campaign. They found a voice for the brand, stuck with it, and spoke to their target market with a confidence that was sexy and smart.
The last part to look at, especially for a business that is dependent on the Internet, is to see if the agency really understands the net. Is it a part of every campaign? Do they insist on working on your site? Is the content updated often? Is it interesting, is it full of key words, is it built to search? If their own site is built in Flash- run. For the most part, Flash doesn’t search well, doesn’t tag well, and is useless for sending links to part of your site. A simple way to tell if a site is built well is to go to google and type in Site:theagencydomainname.com and see how many pages are indexed, how many have titles and descriptive descriptions. If the agency site doesn’t do this- how will yours?
Last but not least, call a few of their clients and ask how long they’ve worked together and how has their business grown.
We hope this helps answer your questions. Of course, I would hope you would consider our agency for your work, but, if not, we have a list of all our local competition on our site so you can do a comparison shop (and so that people looking for their poor sites, find us first

What do you think?

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Posted in: Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Everything you want to know about advertising, VW advertising

From Macintouch.com today:
[Chris Graves] I read yesterday David Esrati’s offer and thought I could do something similar. I own a web hosting company based in Denver and I have temporary office space for two creative or IT types evacuated from the hurricane affected area to Denver. I have available space for two – two desks plus I have a G4, a G3 and a Windows box they could use, plus printers, scanners, telephone, fax etc as well as a beefy Internet connection. I have a full suite of graphic/web production apps available on the Macs, but not the windows machine. If they also know … web design I can perhaps find a few good freelance jobs for them. Just throwing it out there in case it fit with anybody’s needs. Anybody interested can contact me from the contact form on my website.

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Posted in: Everything you want to know about advertising

Sergey Brin and Larry Page, I hope you read this.
(The founders of Google)
To help with the Katrina/New Orleans disaster, could you set up a site where people across the country can offer a job and housing to people in their profession?
So mechanics invite mechanics to their home, bakers bring bakers, bankers and bankers and ad guys invite ad guys.
For the next six months, these people need purpose in their lives.
It’s not a question of give a man a fish, or teaching a man how to fish- it’s giving the fisherman a place to continue to fish.
I’d also say it’s a way to bring a bit of that infectious Big Easy Cheer to places across the country. Between Katrina and the War, we need to remember how to have a good time.
I’ve opened my home/office to help. I’m asking my clients to do the same.
Can the kings of Internet search help? Please?

What do you think?

I’ve just been alerted to this site- although it doesn’t do the job part well-
http://www.hurricanehousing.org/

it’s an effort of moveon.org

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Posted in: Advertising, Everything you want to know about advertising, Guerrilla campaigns

A small Katrina win-win?
My agency, The Next Wave, has been looking for web-savy designer/ ad generalist. We’re a small creative firm in Dayton OH. I also have a spare bedroom- right across the street from the office. If there is anyone escaping Katrina who needs a place to stay- and a job, and they have the qualifications- I’m offering my room rent-free, and my office to you if you are displaced. If you owned a small agency and need a place to continue working- that’s fine too, my office can be your office. The position is posted at http://www.thenextwave.biz/tnw/?p=57.
I’m really not sure of how this will work, I just know that if this happened to me, I’d be grateful if someone was willing to make room and work for me. The only caveat is you have to like dogs and be a non-smoker.
Contact: Katrina@thenextwave.biz

Alan, my trusted genius intern, found this site: http://www.displaceddesigner.com/
I’ve placed a post there-
I’m really happy they took this idea and ran with it.
Great minds think alike?

7 Sep. 05 Update: I’ve heard from 2 potential displaced people- both, fresh out of school, who have places outside New Orleans with their folks. Both have agreed, finding someone with no fall back housing would be the best option. I’m guessing the people who have been totally displaced haven’t had a ton of time online yet- to sort things out. We’re waiting for you….
ABC News from NYC called, wondering if I’d taken anyone in yet- so the word is spreading- just not to the people most in need yet.
I’m glad others have started following in my footsteps- but the matching will take a bit of time.

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Posted in: Careers in Advertising, Everything you want to know about advertising, Guerrilla campaigns