We were doing research on cosmetics branding- and asked a friend who is a former “cosmetina” about who is hot.

She suggested looking at “Tony & Tina” so we did a Google search, and another search, and another search- and couldn’t find the company site. What we did find was this:

Buzz Marketing Group: Case Studies: Tony + Tina

Results
Tony Tina experienced a 25% increase in web site traffic, which led to a major site upgrade.

Unfortunately- the agency didn’t provide a link to the site, nor did the search engines. Must be a pretty impressive site- so hip, they want to keep it a secret.

If anyone knows the url to Tony + Tina Cosmetics- please use the comment section to tell us the link.

If you are an agency, and your client doesn’t come before your site in search- shame on you.

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Posted in: Advertising, Everything you want to know about advertising, How to select an ad agency, Marketing & the Web, Search and Business, Web strategy

As always- when the results are good, no one ever says “the ads did it”- but when the results are bad- it’s always the advertising that’s to blame.

When I first saw the “Get a mac” campaign- with the two guys chatting it up in front of a simple white screen- with “Hello, I’m a Mac” and “I’m a PC” I thought that Chiat/Day had hit a home run for Apple. Not only had they gone to a direct product comparison, they had captured the “user friendliness” of the Mac perfectly.

It was also an affordable campaign- with the potential for having legs. With a rumored 27 different executions already in the can- it stays fresh- and on target.

If there was any doubt that this campaign is resonating, Apple just released it’s latest quarterly results- and the news is great.

Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results

CUPERTINO, California—October 11, 2005—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2005 fourth quarter ended September 24, 2005, reporting the highest revenue and earnings in the Company’s history. Apple posted revenue of $3.68 billion and a net quarterly profit of $430 million, or $.50 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $2.35 billion and a net profit of $106 million, or $.13 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 28.1 percent, up from 27.0 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Not to say all honors belong to Chiat/Day- Apple completed their move to Intel processors- making their computers capable of running Windows should you absolutely have to (and unfortunately- due to some bad web coding- there are still some sites that only work for a PC running Internet Explorer). Apple also introduced the new MacBook to replace the iBook giving them one of the sexiest laptops on the market, albeit at a higher price than most entry PC laptops- but here’s the difference- you really do get what you pay for.

A Next Wave teammate who likes to hack things bought a Dell laptop for $800. It had more ram, more HD and a DVDr drive and a 15″ widescreen- feature wise, it looks like a great deal compared to a similar Mac laptop. But, here’s the catch- it’s all plastic- designed like a kids Lego version of a laptop- instead of the sleek, sexy, smooth lines of the Apple product. We’re comparing a Citroen 2cv to a Lotus Elise. If you need a hint- the 2CV is on the left in red- and the Elise is in blue on the right. 

Apple is delivering a clearly differentiated product- competing on factors other than price, with a consistent brand voice, in a highly competitive market. Will they be number 1? No. Do they have to be? If being number one means you are delivering the most product- at the expense of profits, sustainability will be short lived.

Apple is working on expanding their brand to be central to the “digital lifestyle”- with the iPod being given more credit by stock analysts than it is due. The idea of making life easier for Apple users which is reinforced in every Get a Mac ad- is part of the strategy for Apple’s move into other areas like the delivery of digital content- with the iTunes store- and the much rumored iPhone.

Could these ads sell the new products- definitely. That’s the mark of great ads that bring brand voice, design and company strategy together for results.

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Posted in: Advertising, Apple Advertising, Brand relevancy, Design, Differentiating your brand, Everything you want to know about advertising, Great ad agencies, Secrets of great advertising

What makes the people at Crispin Porter + Bogusky do what they do? A handbook of course. How many jobs have you had where the orientation was: here’s your desk, get to work?

In his book “The Great Game of Business” Jack Stack makes a case that work is like a sport- only most companies never do a very good job of telling their employees how to win, how the score is kept and how to avoid penalties. It’s a very good book and on our booklist.

This might not be a best seller, but, if you are in the ad business, these are the people who are selling the best right now- from Volkswagens to Burger King Whoppers, Crispin Porter + Bogusky is the agency at the top of every agency search consultants list. Here is their playbook for new employees and some insight on how they do what they do.

EmployeeHandbook.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Maybe one of the things a client should be asking to see when selecting a new agency is: can I see your playbook for your employees?

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Posted in: Advertising, Careers in Advertising, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Everything you want to know about advertising, Great ad agencies, How to select an ad agency, Secrets of great advertising

My first experience with the power of suggestion came from a boss when I sold stereo equipment in Atlanta. Larry Sarner had been a sales superstar for “Crazy Eddy’s” in NYC before starting “Stereo Village” (yeah, we used to call them “stereo’s” back then). As people left the store, Larry would call out to them “Bye Now” as they headed out the door, some would leave, but I was amazed at how many would get out to their car, turn around, and come back in and say “I’d like to buy that now.” As if he had implanted the idea to “buy now” with some sort of super sale ray gun. It worked, and it’s part of the reason this new campaign for VW works.
If you are searching for the secrets of great advertising, take notes from this campaign for Volkswagen by Crispin Porter+ Bogusky: Vdubrocks.com

Just as politicians and magicians use distraction to move the conversation and attention away from their obvious short comings, Crispin uses the technique of “Cool by association” to make you think differently about Volkswagen- instead of being a poorly made German car with obvious shortcomings- it is now the only car you can plug a guitar into and become a rock star- that’s right, don’t buy the car because it’s a reliable form of transportation- buy it because you will be able to jump out of your car in a traffic jam and jam like Slash. What? You don’t play guitar? Don’t need a guitar? Who cares? Think of it as a $599 rebate- without costing VW a dime- or turning them into another price competing car company- just throw in a guitar that no self respecting pro would play- with some special VW touches on the knobs and the fret inlays- and then stamp them with a matching VIN code- and you’ve differentiated your brand and made it one step cooler than the run of the mill iPod integration that everyone else is so “hip” with.

Guess what- any car with an iPod in jack could be a “rock car” with the pre-amp included First Act guitar that VW is partnered with- but only their über agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky made the leap. To explain it to the people in Detroit- it’s not about playing guitar anymore than it’s about a “Hemi”- it’s about people thinking- “He drives a VW- therefore he could be a rockstar- like Slash in the tv spot.”

Cars are a product that are sold on many levels. The rationale for buying varies for every buyer- but it comes down to how the driver sees themselves once they own the car. At one time VW stood for practical, fuel efficient, reliable and un-pretentious (remember, Beetle body styling didn’t change much from year to year for 35 year). Now, VW is trying to find a new position, one that distracts consumers from the poor quality and low resale values, and cool is a good place to hang out until the other problems can be resolved.

What’s even more impressive is that Crispin is probably getting the guitars for next to nothing in exchange for giving First Act a chance to get high dollar media exposure on VW’s ad budget. While Crispin probably doesn’t make more money by suggesting this, they create a win-win for VW, First Act and the guitar stars that appear in the campaign. This is the thinking that sets them apart from most agencies.
First Act – About First Act – In The News – 10/1/2006

In a groundbreaking new collaboration, First Act has teamed up with Volkswagen of America, Inc. to present the First Act GarageMaster guitar, an innovative guitar that plays through the audio system of select VW models. As of October 3, each new Jetta, GLI, GTI, Rabbit, New Beetle, and New Beetle Convertible will come with the custom-designed First Act GarageMaster guitar.

Owners of new VW models can transform their cars into mobile amps, with a newfound freedom to rock in the driveway, play at outdoor parties, or shred in the beach parking lot. New rockers will hit the road with a First Act GarageMaster guitar in the trunk, ready to stop and dispense riffs wherever the mood strikes.

While other car companies keep talking about the cars- CP+B keep the conversation focused on the buyers. And even if I don’t play, it really doesn’t matter- because my new Vdub rocks. Yeah, that’s what I want people thinking, even if it has nothing to do with music.

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Posted in: Advertising, Brand relevancy, Creativity, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Differentiating your brand, Everything you want to know about advertising, Great ad agencies, How to select an ad agency, Low budget advertising, Secrets of great advertising, VW advertising

Dieter Rams was a designer for Braun. Braun made stuff cool before Apple was in existence. Take a look at Apple’s products- and then read this list- and all of a sudden, you understand why the brand is iconic, the positioning is differentiated and that when hardware becomes irrelevant, Apple will still be a force to be reckoned with (at least as long as they can keep a Steve Jobs like visionary in charge).
Dieter Rams / Design Museum Collection : Industrial Designer (1932-) – Design/Designer Information
Good design is innovative.
Good design makes a product useful.
Good design is aesthetic.
Good design helps us to understand a product.
Good design is unobtrusive.
Good design is honest.
Good design is durable.
Good design is consequent to the last detail.
Good design is concerned with the environment.
Good design is as little design as possible.
Back to purity, back to simplicity.

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Posted in: Brand relevancy, Change the world, Creativity, Design, Differentiating your brand, Everything you want to know about advertising

ABC gets it, CBS gets it, NBC doesn’t.
I admit it, I didn’t put my season pass on my TiVo for Studio 60 on the Sunset strip in until after the premier. That means I’ve got shows 2 and 3 sitting on my TiVo- but no number 1. No problem, I’ll spend $2 and download it from iTunes. Can’t. NBC doesn’t have their shows on iTunes.
So I’ll go to NBC.com and watch streaming video, no problem. Wrong again. No “Viiv technology”- not only am I on a Mac- but, my PC’s aren’t new and fast enough. Way to go NBC (and Microsoft) I’ll just run out and spend $800 on a new PC to watch your pilot, with the advertising- Not.
Which makes you wonder- is NBC even trying to deliver the largest audience for their advertisers, or are they trying to sell new PC’s and Microsofts DRM software that I had to install only to be told my hardware isn’t up to speed.
And the networks wonder why people are turning to file sharing technology like bit-torrent? If I was an advertiser in Studio 60 I’d be fuming at NBC for this gaff. However, the NBC site has such a bad interface that the advertisers probably wouldn’t know where to click in the first place.
If you wonder why NBC is slipping in the ratings pool, this is only one of the reasons. If you don’t allow your community to build around a show, and give your audience a chance to steer their friends to your new programming, you are only hurting yourself.
The future of television will be on demand, over IP and the content is most likely going to come straight from the producers- for this very reason- the networks aren’t doing their job of distribution adequately.
Too bad, ‘cause Studio 60 looks like a winner.

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