I like to bust on MBAs. In general, they lean too heavily on books, and often end up sounding like it when they write and speak. What is worse, MBAs never learn to trust their gut--a key to success in advertising, a semi-rational science, at best. There is a growing rate of programs, like the ones found on the online MBA rankings, so this means more graduates in the future. Lucky for them, corporate institutions …
Corporate Comics
NYT: The sportswear company Perry Ellis has long employed the traditional formula for men's fashion advertising: take one handsome man, photograph him posing in an exquisite setting, and repeat. The campaign features a male character in a series of settings that emulate real life. But now Perry Ellis has decided to replace its leading man with something less predictable: a comic strip. Using comics in advertising is …
SPAM Tracking
I'm conflicted. When is trackback spam spam, and when is it okay, if ever? We received three such TBs this morning, all from M-ook: Guide to modern living The site is an Amazon Associate, and all its entries are geared to sell the online giant's ever-expanding universe of products. I don't really have a problem with that, but here's what makes it spam—there's no reference to our original post in their post. That's …
Lameness Abounds
I don't read Slovakian*, so it's hard to determine precisely what's going on with the ads above, but it looks like Heinz and KFC have the exact same visual cliches running for different spicy products. I know there are no new ideas, but on the heels of the One Show call-for-entries debacle, thievery is beginning to look like a trend. [*via Ad Arena] …
A New South Wales Vent
"In the factory we make cosmetics, but in the store we sell hope." -Charles Revlon Michael Kiely: There's an old joke in the ad biz: "You only need one thing to succeed in the advertising business: sincerity. And when you learn to fake that you've got it made!" The truth is not so far from the exaggeration. Anyone who has (like me) been in the ad game for any amount of time (I've done 20 years hard labour) can tell …
Make Your Customer Relations Efforts 100% Transparent
Fortune Small Business is running a piece on Umbria, a market research firm in Boulder that designs software to find useful consumer intelligence on the Internet. Izze Beverage, a 45-employee Boulder company that makes sparkling fruit juices, recently engaged Umbria to track what bloggers were saying about rival brands. When a blogger had a bad fruit juice experience with one of his competitors, the result was often …
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Charlie Don’t Type
Another fake blog has reared its anthropomorphic head. This time it's written by a dolphin named Flip, care of Frontier Airlines. Here is Flip's opening salvo: Good citizens of Denver, welcome to my Blog! I hope you like it, because it's really hard to type with flippers. Dumb. [via Jaffe Juice] …
Incentives For Hybrid Drivers
Cities are encouraging citizens to drive hybrid vehicles with offers of free parking. Thus far, Bekeley, Los Angeles, San Jose, New Haven and Albuquerque are offering such perks. According to WTNH, New Haven's Mayor said, "This isn't about parking, it's about public health. Eighteen percent of our kids suffer from asthma, and statewide the number is 10%. This ordinance sends a powerful message to not only New Haven …