Mid-summer we got a call from a young, bright, PhD candidate who was looking for how to differentiate himself from his classmates when he graduates.
While most ad agencies would send most students on their way- we appreciated his gumption- and sat down to plan a strategy.
In our first bit of research we did a simple google of his name: 9800 results- all for a movie actor from the 50’s. Our first suggestion was to change your name and the second was to start a blog using WordPress- and build a site with his thoughts and ideas- to build a body of work for prospective employers to read and become acquainted with this ambitious young man. See awilum.com.
Just 4 months later, Charles Halton, biblical scholar and PhD candidate is now in the top five of the search results on google. This showcases how search engines value fresh content over static unchanging content. If your website has no active or freshly generated content, it doesn’t matter how many keywords you have, you can slip to the more agile upstart who has adopted the new force on the web.
Congratulation Charles Halton.
If you are interested in how to build your online presence, consider taking one of our blogosopher.com sessions to learn how to do the same for your business.

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

When was the last time you tasted $90 pound cake?
When I googled for “recipe for pound cake” I came up with over 2 million hits. There’s a lot of people making pound cake out there- and you could probably whip one yourself- the ingredient list isn’t exactly exotic- some eggs, flour, sugar, butter etc… nothing you can’t get together for under $10 and make more than one.
So- it just so happens that someone gave me one. Now, I don’t know what I did to deserve a $90 pound cake- so I thought I’d take it to a party to share.
And without telling anyone it was a $90 pound cake- it just sat there. I even took a slice out of it and told a few people-, which encouraged some sampling-, but when I left the party- it was still there- with only a quarter gone. (more…)

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

In the Dec 20th issue of USA today, technology writer Kevin Maney predicts that “2006 could be year that CEO Jobs falls off pedestal” in his “Cyberspeak” column. He also predicts that 2006 will be the year of RSS and that cell phone cameras will actually become useful. He also thinks that Google will inspire Microsoft to become better- which is like talking about Ford inspiring buggy whip manufacturers to greatness.
More than likely, 2006 will see an even bigger decline in newspaper print runs, and the beginning of the end for USA Today with it’s bite sized info-chunks. Really- an RSS summary of a quality news paper like the New York Times delivered to your web enabled cell phone- will be more likely to pick up monetized subscribers.
As to the fall of Steve Jobs- highly unlikely. Has Pixar made a dud yet? And even if they did- they set the bar, even if it lowered, it would still beat their nearest competition. The real fear here is a new generation of budding filmmakers (Machinima) using super realistic video games to render their visuals and editing the films on their pc. They can distribute their films through bit-torrent- or maybe- the iTunes video store (another Jobs creation). Which is where Steve and company may have hit the home run that even Google will covet.
With the new Intel based Mac’s coming in ’06, Jobs could open the floodgates by allowing dual system boots- giving PC people a way to own a Mac, but still run their PC software until they can afford the sizeable expense of switching licenses from PC to Mac. Adobe and Macromedia (before it was bought by Adobe) wouldn’t allow cross-platform transfers, and Microsoft would be crazy to allow it for Office. Abandoning all PC licenses adds several thousand dollars to a purchase price of a Mac for a PC owner.
Besides the Intel switch, Jobs is still riding an iPod high with no end in sight. Even elementary school kids now want iPods, and with the cost of flash RAM decreasing, the idea of Nano’s for your iKid aren’t so far fetched.
USA today, has nothing to look forward to. There has been no brand integration with other media, it hasn’t generated credibility with any community in particular, and it certainly hasn’t introduced any revolutionary ideas.
My bets stay on Steve Jobs and company.

What do you think?

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

Next time you look at a campaign being presented by your agency, step back and pretend you are your biggest competitor. If you are selling HD video cameras and your name is Sony, pretend to be Canon, or Panasonic. If you are Dell, pretend to be HP, if you are Honda, think like Toyota- or if you are Miami Valley Hospital, pretend to be Kettering Medical Center.
On first glance- does the ad look like everything else they’ve done? If yes, then do I need to worry about any groundbreaking challenges to my position? If yes, what would I need to do to counter this ad? And all of a sudden you are looking at your own advertising and evaluating it in a whole new way. Proud of yourself, huh?
Problem is- your competitor isn’t your problem.
I’m not suggesting you work in a vacuum, but this is how you produce safe, boring ads that keep you in the status quo section of the market- and that is where you are most vulnerable to losing market share- even if you are the leader in your field.
Here is a secret- there is no such thing as “Market share.” While Procter & Gamble is comfortable with the idea of market share, and Coke and Pepsi slug it out over fractions of a percent shifts, consumers are not part of group, they are individuals making decisions as single entities. The moment you start lumping them into percentages or demographics, you loose sight of the part of marketing that is magical- what should be the goal of every creative toiling away on your account- and what makes a product into a brand- and that is making a connection one-on-one with that customer- where they identify themselves with you, not as your target.
Think of archery- we can shoot arrows at the target from far away, but if you really want to hit the bullseye- the heart- the easiest way is to be a part of that target and impale the arrow in yourself. Sounds gruesome- but that’s when your ads hit pay dirt.
So, instead of talking about yourself- try to give the consumer the tools to talk about their life with your product- in a way they don’t feel that they are owned by you- but that they own your brand. Nike accomplished this with “Just do it” – probably better than anyone, the question is- when you are looking at that next ad you are going to run- “Is is about us” or “Is it about our customer plus us.”
Makes all the difference in the world.

Just try it.
What do you think?

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Posted in: Advertising, Brand relevancy, Everything you want to know about advertising, Future of advertising, How to select an ad agency, Practical Marketing 101, Procter & Gamble Advertising

Of late there has been a lot of major account changes noted in the advertising press. Every move by Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami is documented in the same style as paparazzi chasing movie stars. What was once a relatively small agency, with small clients, who got bought by a small “network” is now becoming a BIG AGENCY with BIG CLIENTS still owned by a small network. How well agencies scale should not be measured by CP+B because it is an anomaly: it’s reputation is so huge, they are able to get the pick of talent, steam roll over clients (since they have been crowned by the media as having the Midas touch) and have adopted a “media agnostic” throw as many ideas on the wall and see what sticks approach.
In case you aren’t aware of their storied life in the fast lane, they made their first appearance on the hot shop radar with their “Truth” campaign for Florida’s anti-smoking campaign. They won a Cannes Gold Lion for their spot for IKEA where a desk lamp gets kicked to the curb- but IKEA seems to be unable to stick with an agency having parted ways with the successor agency as well (IKEA should call us), then came the dream account (only because the car is so damn cute and already branded) the new BMW Mini account. Here CP+P showed off how to get the maximum muscle out of the minimal moola to an exponential effect. Putting Mini’s on top of Ford Expeditions, putting the whole car on a billboard in a Slingshot, even the tagline “Let’s Motor” was so fitting, you couldn’t help but be enchanted with the idea of “driving satisfaction” without having it screamed at you. It was the ultimate in talking with the customer- not at the customer- and it worked. BMW sold cars, CP+B made their client manager look so good, she got hired away from BMW to fix VW- that’s making your client more money than they pay you if I ever saw it. Her reward to her friends who got her there- the VW account, a prize beyond their wildest dreams when they were working on bike helmet campaigns and local business.
So impressive was the mini campaign that success breeds success and on comes Burger King- a traditionally “difficult” client who had been through agencies and “campaigns” faster than they sell whoppers. Along came CP+B throwing new stuff at the masses faster than they could say “Yes” to the “would you like fries with that” question. The first execution was a takeoff on the British TV show “The Office” and the return of the “have it your way tag line.” (more…)

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Posted in: Advertising, BMW Advertising, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Design, Everything you want to know about advertising, Guerrilla campaigns, How to select an ad agency, Marketing & the Web, Retail, VW advertising, Web strategy

Today- a good friend called me and asked me to take a line of commentary off my list of ad agencies in Dayton because I was hurting someone’s feelings- a “good guy”- who took what I said about his agency “website” personally. There was nothing personal about it- it was purely a professional warning that what someone clicking on the link expecting something professional, was going to find something, well, plain and simple, terrible.
It’s not a site- it’s an “under construction” Flash animation- something that obviously took some time, and a bit of thought. I’ve never understood “under construction” sites- either put up something real, or don’t do it at all. The thing about this “site” is that it’s been this way for at least five years- and the punch line is “Butt check back soon” with an animated construction worker showing his backside.

We take what we do here pretty seriously- advertising isn’t something for the meek, the scared or the gutless- it’s about working hard- taking calculated risks and figuring out how to work smarter instead of harder, and- it’s competitive- very competitive.
So, when the call came from my friend- and he asked me what I was doing- I told him: I’m probably driving more traffic to this guys site than he could have gotten any other way, and that I was hoping this might get him to actually put a real site up, one that wouldn’t be an embarrassment to the profession that I love. My friend said that I wasn’t being nice, wasn’t being fair- and that I’d attacked someone personally (to me, a personal attack is when I say “you’re ugly and your mother dresses you funny”). So, I’ve relented and removed the comment- the link is still there for you to find, but it’s up to you.
It’s been said that “good advertising will kill a bad product faster than bad advertising will kill a good product” and this site should have killed this agency long ago- except no one could find it since it was all in Flash- which doesn’t index in Google worth a spit unless the coders really work hard to tag everything. Our list of agencies in Dayton was probably the only way anyone would find it- and, to be honest, we’ve had that comment up for over a year before this guy figured it out.
He can blame me for pointing out how bad his site is- or he can fix it.
He could even come take our Blogosopher seminar and learn how all this stuff works, so he doesn’t have to have an embarrassing site.
Or- he could say, thanks, because like it or not, that little line of text- “this could possibly be the worst ad agency site ever” probably got him more hits than he deserved.

What do you think?

And- if you are wondering why I don’t link to the site- well, I’m being “nice”- you can either start at the top of the list and start clicking- or write me an e-mail and I’ll tell you which one it is.

Note: 21 Dec 2005- the offendsive Flash annimation is now history- so we’ve done our part to improve the world for the moment.

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

If I needed a copywriter today- I’d hire David Freels. You can read about his career interrupted on Sally Hogshead blog. To sum it up, David put his kid before his career for a few years, and ended up making the world a better place. We have a sign hanging in reception and at the front of this site that says “If you aren’t here to change the world, please turn around and leave”- after reading this story, I’m not sure I’m worthy to come in my own office.
So, I commented on Sally’s blog, and then another ad blog picked up my theme- David and Goliath - and that ad blog belongs to Ernie Schenck- another ad god right up there with my heroes Sally and Luke Sullivan.
This is the power of blogging and the Internet- the connecting people who may have never connected before, now come together to help as best they can. I’m posting this, in the hopes that a few other ad types who read this blog, decide to put their little job needed links on their site- to help David Freels get a job.
If you could use a freelance writer, especially if you live in the Atlanta area, please call David Freels.
Sally says the guy can write- and if she says so- who am I to argue.
Reach David for freelance writing work:
dfwrites@gmail.com
404-725-4520
http://www.freelanceforum.org/df

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

“Pardon me, please check your cell phone at the door” might be the future greeting at Wal-Mart- or any other retailer. Today many health clubs don’t allow cell phones in locker rooms because picture cams could be used to take pictures of people without their permission- your local retailer may not want you to be scanning barcodes into your web-enabled cell phone.
Picture this: you walk into Best Buy intent on buying a 60” Plasma High Definition TV. You’re ready to spend $5000 and then some- but, before you say yes to the kid in the blue shirt who’s thinking about the neon he’s going to be putting under his new Honda with his bonus for selling that big TV to you- you whip out your cell phone, scan the product barcode- and send it off to Google’s price comparison site- Froogle and back comes the information that if you drive 1.2 miles over to Circuit City (and here’s the link to the Google map) you can buy that same TV for $4200, and if you order it from Amazon.com you can get it for $3995.
Whoa. Did I just say going out of business sale for every brick and mortar store?
Quite possibly. There is a rule to retail, you can’t be cheapest on everything all the time- and still be profitable- even if you can accomplish huge economies of scale like Wal-Mart has, because there will always be someone else out there ready to beat your price on something. (more…)

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