Everyone You Know (is a liar)
"NOBODY reads the newspaper." Beware of anybody who speaks in absolutes. Statisticians look for something called a “representative sample.” And you don’t have one (no offence, I’m sure you’re a lovely person).
How to Advertise “Caring” and “Craftsmanship”
The Coors campaign took market share from Bud and Miller while spending one-third as much money. They used a half-dozen smaller differentiators to build up “quality” and “caring” as what set their beer apart.
Traction, Rocket-Ship, or Earth Shaker? Does Your Branding Have One, Two, or Three Keys to Success?
Heck, even one out of three is enough to get traction. But a trifecta is the stuff of legends.
A Creative Technique to Make a Decent Offer Unforgettable
How do you get the attention of the public when your product or service is a grudge purchase at best? Every home services provider suffers from this.
Baseball and Advertising
As General Manager of the Oakland A’s, Bill's payroll costs were one-third of the New York Yankees. He couldn’t compete with them. He hired Paul DePodesta, a Harvard grad in Economics. Together, they changed the game.
Learning from the Legends — Tootsie Pop’s Fairy Tale Magic
I’m not talking about a campaign that has run for 50 years, I’m talking about a single ad that still runs to this day and still drives results. So what’s behind the magic?
Exposure, Woo-ing Bucks and impenetrable castles.
“Bill, why did you buy a highway billboard”? “It gives my company great exposure for getting more clients” Here’s the reality. Exposure doesn’t pay the bills.
The Extreme Branding Of Recruiting Ads
We can use the recruiting spot to sneak messages into the minds of eavesdroppers that might have “bounced off” of skepticism had they appeared in a “regular” ad.
Putting Funny Ads To Work For Your Boring-Ass Business – Juxtaposition
Is your business in a boring industry? Then I’m PB&Jelly of you. Jealous because you have a YUGE opportunity to stand out.
7 Reasons NOT to Hire a Local Advertising Agency
The only people who care about adequate frequency are people who are actually measuring, tracking, and being paid for the effectiveness of their work.
Tying Creativity to Strategy
If you’re new to mass media advertising, THE question you’re likely asking yourself is: “Does this stuff really work? Does it really drive huge success, in a reliable repeatable way?"
A Secret Path to Branding Ads that Actually Work
"Like McDonald’s, Carl’s Jr. ads showed a big, nicely stacked burger on TV. Unlike McDonald’s, however, Carl’s Jr. would then deliver a charbroiled product that looked like a sloppy, drippy mess."
Say Cheese Now Smile
When you set a course to entertain, persuasion can still be a destination. The limerick can be your vehicle. It’s persuasion with the top down. The clown car body encases a Honda engine (colorful, but reliable).
Emotional, Rational, or Aspirational? Yes, Please!
How exactly did appealing to the whole person fall out of fashion in advertising? Somewhere along the lines, people began to separate out Reason-Why or logic-driven ads from emotionally galvanizing ads.
How to 3X the Memorability and Impact of Your Ads
Give people a list of random words to read, take the list away, then ask how many words each person can recall. On average they’ll recall three words. But this technique increases it to nine.