I saw an AMAZING ad for Crown Royal during the commercial break of The Tonight Show with Conan O'brien tonight and I can't find it online! It goes with the campaign in the ads below.
I'll write more about it when I find it.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
The Middle Ground
I'm sorry, did anyone else think Vertical Horizon had fallen off the planet? I know I did. Apparently they have a new album out, and some of the stuff isn't too bad! It may be the 90s child in me, but I quite enjoy The Middle Ground
Speaking of grounds. Ad Age is featuring an article on Starbucks' new product today. The instant coffee called Via.
They are doing an all out attack on various forms of tradition and social media. This includes inviting all of their facebook friends to the taste testing event.
Here's the Ad, I couldn't embed it.
Starbucks Via Taste Test Ad
The best part is when the guy stands up in the middle of the town meeting and says "I can't taste the difference!... I CAN'T!" hahaha
I think it might be the smartest thing they've done in a while. My friend Nash and I have long seen Starbucks as a dying brand. It just got too big too fast, and you can go to a Starbucks location and watch the place kill itself. And the thing is, I know I read an article where they brought in their original guy and were trying to 'get back to their roots'. Remember when Starbucks used to be a warm inviting place, with comfy chairs, plenty of space, with intelligent, hardworking, kind employees, and the strong aroma of fresh ground coffee? Today it's a place that is over cluttered with it's POP items, overpriced mugs, stupid anecdotes and quotes strategically place all around the store, and incompetency. Everyone I've talked to about Starbucks tells me the biggest difference they see is in the service. No one wants to go to a coffee shop with 6 people working behind the counter trying to make coffee for 3 people and still managing to ruin the orders. I remember that was a big reason we used to go to Starbucks. They made your coffee lickety split, and without too much hassle.
Another problem?
Those print ads with the anecdotes and facts? They have a tone of arrogance that I don't see any of middle America being fooled by. They try to relate to their customers and say "Hey, we're friends here." To which I say-- When have we ever been friends? You sell me overpriced coffee and you sell it HARD. Too hard. You're pretending to be my friend to make more money. So fail fail fail with the print ads.
But here's where the Facebook thing comes in. People actually feel some sort of connection to the company, not just because they are friends with them on Facebook (because we all know how fake that can be) , but because they are getting some sort of tangible feedback with the invites and the offers. Capitalize on that while it lasts because nothing is good forever.
So sell your instant coffee and get people away from your store while you try to piece it back together!!
Yet. Even So. Are they behind McDonalds in the taste test concept? Struggling to reel their customers back in as more and more head next door to McDonalds?
Let me tell you two personal stories about this whole thing:
When my dad and I were driving to Lbk more recently, we stopped at a Starbucks to get our morning coffee fix. There is a sign (on the door at 8 or 9 am mind you!) that says, 'We will only be open from 2pm to 6 pm due to lack of employees" WOW. FATAL mistake. There was a McDonalds RIGHT NEXT DOOR. We watched several people try the Starbucks, realize it was closed and head to McDonalds, including ourselves.
Second. When I was interning at the Ad Agency, I volunteered to help with a lot of PR events on the McDonalds account. In one case, we were set up outside of a baseball game, giving out free samples of McDonalds McCafe Iced Coffee. Talking to people, connecting with people, getting them to try the product. There was no mention of Starbucks, or being better than them, it was just straight up-- "Check us out". That was over a month ago, and here comes Starbucks with their taste tests. A little late starting if you ask me.
Until next time! Hope they come out with syringes with which you can just inject caffeine right into your bloodstream. WHOO!
Speaking of grounds. Ad Age is featuring an article on Starbucks' new product today. The instant coffee called Via.
The chain is expecting between 8 million and 10 million consumers to visit its 7,500 company-run cafes in the U.S. and Canada to participate in a taste test that runs Friday through Monday. Participants will receive a "thank you" card good for a free coffee on their next visit, and $1 off their purchase of Via at any Starbucks.
They are doing an all out attack on various forms of tradition and social media. This includes inviting all of their facebook friends to the taste testing event.
Here's the Ad, I couldn't embed it.
Starbucks Via Taste Test Ad
The best part is when the guy stands up in the middle of the town meeting and says "I can't taste the difference!... I CAN'T!" hahaha
I think it might be the smartest thing they've done in a while. My friend Nash and I have long seen Starbucks as a dying brand. It just got too big too fast, and you can go to a Starbucks location and watch the place kill itself. And the thing is, I know I read an article where they brought in their original guy and were trying to 'get back to their roots'. Remember when Starbucks used to be a warm inviting place, with comfy chairs, plenty of space, with intelligent, hardworking, kind employees, and the strong aroma of fresh ground coffee? Today it's a place that is over cluttered with it's POP items, overpriced mugs, stupid anecdotes and quotes strategically place all around the store, and incompetency. Everyone I've talked to about Starbucks tells me the biggest difference they see is in the service. No one wants to go to a coffee shop with 6 people working behind the counter trying to make coffee for 3 people and still managing to ruin the orders. I remember that was a big reason we used to go to Starbucks. They made your coffee lickety split, and without too much hassle.
Another problem?
Those print ads with the anecdotes and facts? They have a tone of arrogance that I don't see any of middle America being fooled by. They try to relate to their customers and say "Hey, we're friends here." To which I say-- When have we ever been friends? You sell me overpriced coffee and you sell it HARD. Too hard. You're pretending to be my friend to make more money. So fail fail fail with the print ads.
But here's where the Facebook thing comes in. People actually feel some sort of connection to the company, not just because they are friends with them on Facebook (because we all know how fake that can be) , but because they are getting some sort of tangible feedback with the invites and the offers. Capitalize on that while it lasts because nothing is good forever.
So sell your instant coffee and get people away from your store while you try to piece it back together!!
Yet. Even So. Are they behind McDonalds in the taste test concept? Struggling to reel their customers back in as more and more head next door to McDonalds?
Let me tell you two personal stories about this whole thing:
When my dad and I were driving to Lbk more recently, we stopped at a Starbucks to get our morning coffee fix. There is a sign (on the door at 8 or 9 am mind you!) that says, 'We will only be open from 2pm to 6 pm due to lack of employees" WOW. FATAL mistake. There was a McDonalds RIGHT NEXT DOOR. We watched several people try the Starbucks, realize it was closed and head to McDonalds, including ourselves.
Second. When I was interning at the Ad Agency, I volunteered to help with a lot of PR events on the McDonalds account. In one case, we were set up outside of a baseball game, giving out free samples of McDonalds McCafe Iced Coffee. Talking to people, connecting with people, getting them to try the product. There was no mention of Starbucks, or being better than them, it was just straight up-- "Check us out". That was over a month ago, and here comes Starbucks with their taste tests. A little late starting if you ask me.
Until next time! Hope they come out with syringes with which you can just inject caffeine right into your bloodstream. WHOO!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Me and The Big Empty
I created this blog because I felt like there was no other way to truly express myself fully. Not because I wanted people to read it, but because of the joy I felt getting the way I felt out of me and somewhere else. I was having a really rough time when I created it, sometimes I forget that when I blog about advertising and media... those things are a big part of me, but there's more to me as well.
The Big Empty is a short film on Wolphin #9 starring Selma Blair, it is one of my favorite films in existence. I think one other person knows this. Well until now.
It is based a short story, The Specialist by Alison Smith:
It's a love story really. The most interesting kind.
When I was little and in school, I always struggled with the subject of Math. This was because I was so completely consumed with needing to have a "why" explained to me, and a young elementary school teacher could not explain to me WHY math rules are. They used to just tell me, "It just is, don't ask questions and do the work." More plainly, how dare I ask why?! It just is. When I was older I had teachers that could explain to me in depth the exact why of Mathematics, and I excelled in the subject.
I will never understand the how or why of my relationships. I need to know why and how things can be said and done in the sincerest and best way for so long, and in an instant be taken back and called feigned or non-existent. I have never put on about who I am or what my feelings are, so I want to know why. Maybe there will never be a someone that understands enough to explain that to me.
That is the definition of an intimate relationship. You're welcome.
The Big Empty is a short film on Wolphin #9 starring Selma Blair, it is one of my favorite films in existence. I think one other person knows this. Well until now.
It is based a short story, The Specialist by Alison Smith:
"Alice waited. She thought perhaps what she needed was rest. Perhaps what the ache wanted was to be left alone. So for an entire year she tried to ignore it. She did not see a single doctor. She swam up and down between the ropes. She shelved books. She rode the subway. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head against the plastic seat and waited for her life to change. Every night, she called for take-out from the pay phone on the corner. Every day, she gazed down at the neat lines of bills in the bookstore cash register.
Through it all, the ache zinged and popped. It burned and festered. And the pain of it began to eat away at her. At times, Alice felt certain there must be little left inside her. And that year, the-year-of-not-trying, something cold and hard slipped inside Alice and her heart became like a knife drawer. Sharp and shining, she kept it closed."
It's a love story really. The most interesting kind.
When I was little and in school, I always struggled with the subject of Math. This was because I was so completely consumed with needing to have a "why" explained to me, and a young elementary school teacher could not explain to me WHY math rules are. They used to just tell me, "It just is, don't ask questions and do the work." More plainly, how dare I ask why?! It just is. When I was older I had teachers that could explain to me in depth the exact why of Mathematics, and I excelled in the subject.
I will never understand the how or why of my relationships. I need to know why and how things can be said and done in the sincerest and best way for so long, and in an instant be taken back and called feigned or non-existent. I have never put on about who I am or what my feelings are, so I want to know why. Maybe there will never be a someone that understands enough to explain that to me.
"An intimate relationship is a particularly close interpersonal relationship. It is a relationship in which the participants know or trust one another very well or are confidants of one another, or a relationship in which there is physical or emotional intimacy.
Intimate relationships play a central role in the overall human experience. Humans have a universal need to belong which is satisfied when intimate relationships are formed. Intimate relationships consist of the people that we are attracted to, whom we like and love, romantic and sexual relationships, and those who we marry and provide emotional and personal support. Intimate relationships provide people with a social network of people that provide strong emotional attachments and fulfill our universal needs of belongingness and the need to be cared for."
That is the definition of an intimate relationship. You're welcome.
"I'm not empty you know, I just have an ache inside me"
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Patrick Chewing
Let's talk about Snickers, (Mars). If you read this new AdAge article, Marketing: Mars Consolidates Brand Advertising Creative for 2010.
The most significant change under Mars' new plan is the return of the $30 million U.S. Snickers account to Omnicom Group's BBDO Worldwide from sibling TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York.
TBWA had handled Snickers' creative since 2006, and earned numerous creative awards for work under former top creative Gerry Graf. Its most recent iteration of the campaign, "Snickers Speak," was introduced under the office's new head creative, Mark Figliulo. The theme was a language dubbed "Snacklish," with outdoor executions telling customers to "Get a Degree in Snackomonics" and TV spots featuring rapper Master P and retired basketballer Patrick Ewing.
WHY on God's green earth would you change? The current ad campaign is phenomenal. And don't just believe me, here are some backups:
Let's All Just Agree the Snickers Ad Campaign Is the Best
It's a Snickers Ad By Any Other Name
Can't wait to see how this works out for Mars.
Here is a photo from my weekend in CS. More to come later on that trip.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Without Question
This is what I'd want my wedding dress to model after. Maybe in a more white. But whatever. Crystal Renn is fabulous. Google her.
We've Heard It All Before, And EVERYBODY Knows.
I guess...
I absolutely love this RAC mix of John Legend's Everybody Knows. If one artist consistently sings like he's singing because he loves music, like it's flowing from his heart, that artist is John Legend.
John Legend- Everybody Knows (RAC Mix)
I consider myself to be a decently confident person when it counts. Most of the time. Usually. I'm confident in the things that I know I'm good at-- confident almost to a fault. But in other areas in my life, I'm not always so sure about myself. It's something I'm trying to let go of. I think the need for Ego boosts, encouragement and reassurance can be healthy, not all the time, but sometimes. The expression of those things can be through actions and if it's important, words. It really reassures a human being of -'Hey, I do something that makes a difference'. Maybe you don't change the world, or save one, but maybe you make a difference for one person, two people--whatever. It's validation.
It's kin to that whole idea that if you simply acknowledge someone you pass in the hallway at work or on the streets, you could really make a day. It's the thing advertisers want to elicit through advertising-- that warm feeling that maybe the world isn't such a cold doomed place after all, and that you as the consumer have a position in it. The ideal feeling. It's the kind of feeling when you walk outside during Christmas time-- the warm smell, the cold air, people bundled up and with those they love.
Can you think back and remember moments of complete peace and bliss in your life? Because not having a job or a place to live or being angry with your current situation can best be healed in one of two ways: thinking about those wonderful times in the past or getting up and making new memories create that sentiment. I like both.
I slide off into advertisements I see lately. Hasbro and Mattel with ads about reconnecting with your family in tough financial times and playing games; having a Family Game Night and even food commercials that feature families spending more time together. What is it about situations like this that bring everyone back down to earth and simplicity? Especially in the past decade when money is ever important?
At Tech, we used to have game nights, they were some of the best nights. I remember specifically the Winter two years ago-- the time it snowed from Friday afternoon to Sunday night every weekend for like four weeks. Weekends stuck in the dorms, when we were forced to entertain ourselves with everything from video games, board games, to snowballs. We weren't happy to be stuck inside with no way to go anywhere, but we had FUN.
I've just remembered how last year, an external hard drive containing photos documenting all of these things, crashed. And the full fledged photographer in me sheds a serious tear. Someday I will have gathered the exorbitant amount of money needed to recover these files.
Anyway. I'm off to CS this weekend to enjoy the company of friends.
And in final news: This weekend is the Tech vs UT game... the daunting day approacheth...
He's ready, are you?
I absolutely love this RAC mix of John Legend's Everybody Knows. If one artist consistently sings like he's singing because he loves music, like it's flowing from his heart, that artist is John Legend.
John Legend- Everybody Knows (RAC Mix)
I consider myself to be a decently confident person when it counts. Most of the time. Usually. I'm confident in the things that I know I'm good at-- confident almost to a fault. But in other areas in my life, I'm not always so sure about myself. It's something I'm trying to let go of. I think the need for Ego boosts, encouragement and reassurance can be healthy, not all the time, but sometimes. The expression of those things can be through actions and if it's important, words. It really reassures a human being of -'Hey, I do something that makes a difference'. Maybe you don't change the world, or save one, but maybe you make a difference for one person, two people--whatever. It's validation.
It's kin to that whole idea that if you simply acknowledge someone you pass in the hallway at work or on the streets, you could really make a day. It's the thing advertisers want to elicit through advertising-- that warm feeling that maybe the world isn't such a cold doomed place after all, and that you as the consumer have a position in it. The ideal feeling. It's the kind of feeling when you walk outside during Christmas time-- the warm smell, the cold air, people bundled up and with those they love.
Can you think back and remember moments of complete peace and bliss in your life? Because not having a job or a place to live or being angry with your current situation can best be healed in one of two ways: thinking about those wonderful times in the past or getting up and making new memories create that sentiment. I like both.
I slide off into advertisements I see lately. Hasbro and Mattel with ads about reconnecting with your family in tough financial times and playing games; having a Family Game Night and even food commercials that feature families spending more time together. What is it about situations like this that bring everyone back down to earth and simplicity? Especially in the past decade when money is ever important?
At Tech, we used to have game nights, they were some of the best nights. I remember specifically the Winter two years ago-- the time it snowed from Friday afternoon to Sunday night every weekend for like four weeks. Weekends stuck in the dorms, when we were forced to entertain ourselves with everything from video games, board games, to snowballs. We weren't happy to be stuck inside with no way to go anywhere, but we had FUN.
I've just remembered how last year, an external hard drive containing photos documenting all of these things, crashed. And the full fledged photographer in me sheds a serious tear. Someday I will have gathered the exorbitant amount of money needed to recover these files.
Anyway. I'm off to CS this weekend to enjoy the company of friends.
And in final news: This weekend is the Tech vs UT game... the daunting day approacheth...
He's ready, are you?
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
I Take For Granted That You Just Don't Care
Hello It's Me- Todd Rundgren
A fantastic song. But look how oddly this dude is dressed in this performance.
I was thinking about Newspaper supposedly being a dying medium. I prefer to think of it as an evolving one, much like the telephone or radio over time when T.V. took the throne. Radio. What started out as small as communication between ships grew into nightly entertainment for families all over to something we use as a soundtrack to our driving adventures. And now there is XM and even online adventures like AccuRadio (whether you consider it radio or not) they call themselves 'The Next Generation of Radio'.
Here's where I started wondering about Newspaper evolution. A quick Google search of this exact term brings tons of information and opinions to me.
John Katz, media critic, former EP of CBS Evening News;
"The newspaper needs to reinvent itself. . . . The object is not to replace, or put into a different format, but to gain a toehold in cyberspace and even absorb some of its values."
Why not give the complete experience to a reader, seeing as you have that ability. What's a scoop anymore when people are twittering events faster than anyone could report them. If a newspaper goes into Twitter, they should think of as a one on one communication tool, people may be seeing a tweet in mass, but they are all not sitting together looking at one screen. Don't just shoot off headlines, how typical! If I wanted that I'd keep your site up.
I went to a conference call when I was at the agency with this man: Peter Shankman and he talked about the best way to market yourself on twitter. Make it exciting, draw the follower in, give them a reason to click through your link and read the story. Your story.
Let me touch on another mistake I think has been made. Trusted news sources, selling out their entire being to have the latest updates for you on celebrity sightings and whereabouts! Quickest way to turn a lot of potential readers off and send them to a competitor. Leave that shit to whoremongers like Perez Hilton. Even I scroll through his site or link to some news he's posted once in a while. But that's his job!
Then I got to thinking, do newspapers pay people to be bloggers of news for them? I mean, of course they do. But do they do it in such a way that it might be considered seamless to the online readers' eyes? Is that considered ethical? Isn't half the appeal of bloggers and their opinion the fact that it is their opinion and not something they were paid generously to blog about?
It's a lot to think about, and I have barely scratched the surface. I may come back to this subject as I gather more information.
In other news, my favorite music branding blog Songs For Soap has not updated in almost 2 months! What the hell. It's an AdAge blog. Someone get on that. Hell I don't have a job, let me do it.
As for that, I've been out of school for 4 months now and still can't find a job. Not for lack of trying. I really really really wanted to work for the agency I interned at, but alas, that is not possible at this time or this economy.
Sometimes I feel like I have all of these plans and all of these things I want to do with my life, my future, but I can't begin to do them until I have some sort of job to get income going. So I'm just a girl dreaming about her future, stuck in her present. Now it's time for me to stop bitching and apply for more jobs.
A fantastic song. But look how oddly this dude is dressed in this performance.
I was thinking about Newspaper supposedly being a dying medium. I prefer to think of it as an evolving one, much like the telephone or radio over time when T.V. took the throne. Radio. What started out as small as communication between ships grew into nightly entertainment for families all over to something we use as a soundtrack to our driving adventures. And now there is XM and even online adventures like AccuRadio (whether you consider it radio or not) they call themselves 'The Next Generation of Radio'.
Here's where I started wondering about Newspaper evolution. A quick Google search of this exact term brings tons of information and opinions to me.
John Katz, media critic, former EP of CBS Evening News;
"The newspaper needs to reinvent itself. . . . The object is not to replace, or put into a different format, but to gain a toehold in cyberspace and even absorb some of its values."
Why not give the complete experience to a reader, seeing as you have that ability. What's a scoop anymore when people are twittering events faster than anyone could report them. If a newspaper goes into Twitter, they should think of as a one on one communication tool, people may be seeing a tweet in mass, but they are all not sitting together looking at one screen. Don't just shoot off headlines, how typical! If I wanted that I'd keep your site up.
I went to a conference call when I was at the agency with this man: Peter Shankman and he talked about the best way to market yourself on twitter. Make it exciting, draw the follower in, give them a reason to click through your link and read the story. Your story.
Let me touch on another mistake I think has been made. Trusted news sources, selling out their entire being to have the latest updates for you on celebrity sightings and whereabouts! Quickest way to turn a lot of potential readers off and send them to a competitor. Leave that shit to whoremongers like Perez Hilton. Even I scroll through his site or link to some news he's posted once in a while. But that's his job!
Then I got to thinking, do newspapers pay people to be bloggers of news for them? I mean, of course they do. But do they do it in such a way that it might be considered seamless to the online readers' eyes? Is that considered ethical? Isn't half the appeal of bloggers and their opinion the fact that it is their opinion and not something they were paid generously to blog about?
It's a lot to think about, and I have barely scratched the surface. I may come back to this subject as I gather more information.
In other news, my favorite music branding blog Songs For Soap has not updated in almost 2 months! What the hell. It's an AdAge blog. Someone get on that. Hell I don't have a job, let me do it.
As for that, I've been out of school for 4 months now and still can't find a job. Not for lack of trying. I really really really wanted to work for the agency I interned at, but alas, that is not possible at this time or this economy.
Sometimes I feel like I have all of these plans and all of these things I want to do with my life, my future, but I can't begin to do them until I have some sort of job to get income going. So I'm just a girl dreaming about her future, stuck in her present. Now it's time for me to stop bitching and apply for more jobs.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Eyes Seal Shut in a Slumber
My absolute song of the moment :
New Drink for the Old Drunk- Crooked Fingers.
If you haven't heard it, get to listening.
I've always been better with print words. text. If I really sit down and think about something I want to write, it's fairly easy for me to write it well.
This is why I love advertising. Beauty and simplicity in words: I'm good with them. But then when I talk... it's harder. That's what a good ad does. It conveys a certain beauty through it simplicity. Don't try to con someone with a typical sell. You can't do it. The customer knows when you are lying. So use the truth and convey it in a way to draw the response that benefits the brand.
Find the simple story in the product and present it in an articulate, intelligent, and
persuasive way.
-Bill Bernbach, DDB
Simplicity is all. Simple logic, simple arguments, simple visual images. It you can’t
reduce your argument to a few crisp words and phrases, there’s something wrong with
your argument. There is nothing long-winded about ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.’
-Maurice Saatchi, Saatchi & Saatchi
I took this strengths quest thing for free from Texas Tech, and one of the big things was 'You should think about writing a novel'. Gross. But kind of a cool thought.
New Drink for the Old Drunk- Crooked Fingers.
If you haven't heard it, get to listening.
I've always been better with print words. text. If I really sit down and think about something I want to write, it's fairly easy for me to write it well.
This is why I love advertising. Beauty and simplicity in words: I'm good with them. But then when I talk... it's harder. That's what a good ad does. It conveys a certain beauty through it simplicity. Don't try to con someone with a typical sell. You can't do it. The customer knows when you are lying. So use the truth and convey it in a way to draw the response that benefits the brand.
Find the simple story in the product and present it in an articulate, intelligent, and
persuasive way.
-Bill Bernbach, DDB
Simplicity is all. Simple logic, simple arguments, simple visual images. It you can’t
reduce your argument to a few crisp words and phrases, there’s something wrong with
your argument. There is nothing long-winded about ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.’
-Maurice Saatchi, Saatchi & Saatchi
I took this strengths quest thing for free from Texas Tech, and one of the big things was 'You should think about writing a novel'. Gross. But kind of a cool thought.
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