Big Idea: advertising
Think Big
“The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” – Steve Jobs Of course innovation takes innovators. But who are these innovators, and how do you become one? Innovators are people who think of new ideas that no one has ever thought of before; they are people who have an imagination. BUT, it takes more than just having an imagination. Innovators have an imagination in the face of adversity. If you have a new idea no one has ever heard of before, an idea that seems impossible or impractical, people[.....]
Speed to Market, But at What Cost?
We know how fast our world is moving. We live the new faster reality every day. I date myself (and I know better) when I talk about those halcyon days of 16 and 20 week production schedules, with seemingly leisurely weeks set aside for creative musing and problem solving. I get it. My attention span is as short as the next consumer’s, as squirrelly as any middle schooler’s who can’t focus on a conversation because their phone is vibrating with new information they could definitely live without. I get that our clients are vying for the attention of people doing[.....]
The Five Most Important Qualities of a Great Client
My career as an advertising copywriter began at some point between the time the earth was cooling and the Pleistocene. Or at least that’s what the interns that I work with believe. Because I’ve survived in a business notorious for chewing people up and spitting them out, I’ve worked with an enormous cast of characters, many of them clients. “So what makes a great client?” you might ask, if I were putting words in your mouth. Let me describe my five most important qualities. And then I’ll go away, and you can put on some soft music and relax. #1[.....]
Rules? What Rules?
Maya Lin received a B+ for her Vietnam War Memorial concept while an undergraduate at Yale University. Her unconventional design stood in stark contrast to the other 1,400 entries in the competition. But controversy surrounded her until the monument’s completion in 1982. The prevailing attitude at the time was that monuments should rise heroically above the landscape like the Iwo Jima Memorial sculpture and the Jefferson Memorial, which is based on the Pantheon in Rome. The formula for monument design dictated that any typography on memorials should be a minimum of three inches in height. Maya Lin’s Vietnam wall violated[.....]
Off Target: The Difference between Branding and Retail Sameness at Target
What’s happened to Target? Well, a lot of their advertising has gone stupid-retail for one. Their broadcast has become a big ho-hum that carries very little branding, almost zero concept and this means the brand linkage to Target is completely dependent on three seconds of logo at the end of the spot. Advertising like this relies on consumers actually paying rapt attention–which they don’t–and is a formula that makes it easy for them to confuse Target with one of their competitors. For instance, check out this recent Target commercial for Champion sportswear: The problem with this[.....]
Now Hiring: Creative Technologist
In advertising we’ve often mistaken creative technologist for someone who designs websites and also doesn’t mind doing a little coding. Or a writer who can fix your computer. But the real job description is something that is so much more. The confluence of unfettered creativity and the technology to make it happen is rare. The two things seem to live at odds in most people’s brains and being good at one (like coding) often is at the expense of the other (like kinetic movement). Ask most art directors about algebra and you’ll get the idea. I was surfing and I[.....]
What Comes After the QR Code?
Yes. It’s another shiny and pretty toy…. So the next shiny object is here and has been here for a while. At least this time, nobody is pitching you a $100,000 “deal” to sell you on mobile web, apps and SEO. A QR code is quick, cheap and as a designer likely pointed out to you already at some point, it’s an ugly blob of cubes that we can barely modify. (Actually we can modify them up to 30% due to built-in deterioration logic). Yes, they are a useful tool, but yet again we might be focusing on the shiny[.....]
Do You Know the Right Media Mix For Your Marketing Plan?
Brandworks 2011 Faculty Guest Blogger: E. Craig Stacey PhD. Researcher/expert on touchpoint mix/modeling/ROI with dual appointments at Columbia and NYU’s Stern School of Business. A Mix Modeling Manifesto (Originally posted at Mproductivity blog) With the rapid adoption of marketing effectiveness measurement throughout industry, discussion of marketing mix modeling is no longer confined to the marketing science departments of CPG companies. C-level executives are increasingly issuing the mandate to initiate marketing mix analyses and even more are sitting in on vendor pitches and final results presentations. Since so many are now acting upon recommendations from these studies, there is a need for[.....]
How to Communicate in a Conversation Economy
The following article was originally published on AdAge.com on October 27, 2009. MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY FOR A CONVERSATION ECONOMY By Marsha Lindsay, CEO, Lindsay, Stone & Briggs What does the worldwide, technologically enabled drive for conversations mean for marketers? It means you’re no longer marketing products or services; you’re marketing conversations. It means marketing communication planning should be driven by a conversation strategy. The right conversation strategy answers two big questions: What meaningful content will attract sufficient conversations with the right people? And, how will you jumpstart conversations and keep them alive? When people are starved for time and already[.....]
Insight Driven Marketing
Hey, check out LSB’s new work for Monroe Clinic, a healthcare provider just south of us. Using our archetypal approach, we discovered that Monroe Clinic was a “sage” brand and that what really set them apart was that they really understood the unique health needs of their rural population as opposed to providers in nearby metro areas. In short, “They know the territory.”
