Another Super Bowl in the record books. Even though we didn’t really care about either team playing, my wife and I still felt compelled to at least have the game on. A loss for the NFL, but a win for the advertisers right? Well, maybe not.

I can remember lots of years being really interested in seeing what the major brands were going to run. The Super Bowl is the one TV show I can think of where the advertising is not an unwelcome break in the action, but the ads had actually become a celebrated and necessary part of the experience. This year something weird happened … I noticed for me some of the excitement was gone. (more…)

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I saw an interesting article in the Dec 12^th Adweek, “A Holiday Tale: The Christmas Tree Wars.”

The article does a good job of framing the business and marketing aspects of the competition between “mom-and-pop” tree sellers vs. the “big box” stores that sell fresh trees in their garden departments. What’s missing in the discussion is what may be mom and pop’s best advantage: tradition. No other time of year is so built on maintaining tradition like the Christmas season. We don’t even like most new Christmas songs, although we also complain that there are so few Christmas songs. Why? Tradition.

What buying a tree from a “big box” store offers in convenience, it lacks in the ability to reinforce good old heart-warming traditions. I’d hate to see mass retailers kill the Christmas tree tradition and I think this might be one case where emotion will win out over practical convenience.  Merry Christmas!

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How much do you need to spend on advertising? It’s a common question. We often get asked by our clients and prospects.  In my experience, there is no one-size-fits all answer. The truth is it depends.  I did some research to see if I could come up with some rules of thumb.

BusinessWeek.com had some useful statistics (originally posted: February 10, 2009):

•  Automakers’ generally spend 2.5% to 3.5% of revenue on marketing

•  Liquor (5.5% to 7.5%)

•  Packaged goods (4% to 10%)

•  Services businesses (5% to 15%)

What you are going to need to spend will depend on a variety of factors, like: (more…)

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If you even causally follow baseball, you know the Brewers were a big deal in Milwaukee this year. “Beast Mode” was in full effect. Here at the agency, one discussion about our beloved team spawned an interesting question. The Brewers have all sorts of uniform versions in a variety of colors and styles (I want all of them, but that’s another conversation).

Color choices can have a wide range of implications. We look at the intrinsic meanings of color when building logos and other brand identity. We make recommendations to our clients to help convey specific traits and feelings. We know some organizations have worked to “own” colors. UPS’s what can brown do for you comes to mind. (more…)

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OK, I know I’m talking about a 2010 advertising commercial that lots of people have already blogged about, but something occurred to me and I wanted to share. When this came out, I loved it. And I still do. It’s fun to watch. It’s fun to listen to. Here’s the problem … I never can remember what car they are trying to sell me. I’ve seen this commercial dozens of times and was entertained every single time. Watching it again just now, I see they point over and over again to the Kia and Soul logos on the car itself, but I missed them both – dozens of times.

 Is this commercial just simply too entertaining to be effective branding? What do you think? Any other examples?

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An architectural and engineering wonder, the Great Pyramid at Giza is believed to be built over a 20-year period concluding around 2560 BC. Its foundation covers 13.6 acres. Initially 480.6 ft tall, the Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for over 3,800 years, the longest period of time ever held for such a record. (more…)

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This is a great example of an integrated B2B PR and social media program for HubSpot’s Marketing Fact vs. Fantasy Campaign. Well played, HubSpot. Well played.

http://www.hubspot.com/blog/bid/23690/HubSpot-Apologizes-For-Unicorn-Shortage

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Seems most everyone I know is dealing with the same thing: people want everything right now! We practically demand immediate responses to e-mails and for the most part demand immediate action from ourselves. We see that alert window and rush to check to see what it is and what needs to be done. Speed has become the primary driver behind what we do.

The shift to more and more digital marketing communications has also, I believe, changed how we feel about the importance of accuracy. Digital communications lack the perception of permanence. Print 10,000 copies of a 12-page brochure and a mistake has a significant and obvious cost, but bad grammar and spelling are practically expected in text messages and at least tolerated in e-mails. If something is wrong, just delete it. And who cares if something is wrong on an electronic proof?! We’ll just fix it and send version #2. And version #3. And version #4. You get the idea.

The problem with all of this is that a bad reputation can be very long lasting and truly costly. I know I get nailed every time I start to care more about the timeline than taking that extra time to really think about what I’m doing. The primary goal always needs to be to get things “right” not “right now.” People will remember a mistake far longer than if they got something an hour later than what is often an arbitrary deadline.

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Last week I finished a four-city, three-country focus group project for one of our clients. Moderating the groups was an interesting study in personality differences and group dynamics.

In Toronto, the group seemed positive and optimistic. New York City participants were intrigued, but skeptical – and they practically demanded proof. In San Francisco, the group members were warm and open, and eager to teach me what is important to them. And in London, the focus group participants were polite and formal, but every bit as skeptical as those in New York.

I’ve found over the years that the “average” focus group participant attends because they are curious and anxious to share their opinion. As much as things are different across the world, some things remain the same.

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I just finished up back-to-back focus group meetings in Toronto and New York City, and have two more coming up in San Francisco and London in the coming weeks. I love getting the chance to get in front of our clients’ audiences to get their firsthand insights into products and what’s important to them. This has been a fun and productive trip. (more…)

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