Here's a No Brainer

Newspapers Miss Out On $300 Mil. In Online Advertising

Newspapers are missing out on nearly $300 million annually by failing to use the Internet to serve new advertisers and enter new fields, says a new study from Harvard Business School's Clark G. Gilbert and Borrell Associates Inc. of Portsmouth, Va.

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Wacky Package of the Day

Courtesy of Kevin Porter's Wacky Packages
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How to Make the Most of a Messy Dispute

Not at all advertising related, but as you may have heard, there is a janitor strike going on in the city of Boston. The seriousness of it all aside, there is always great humor in these sort of things:

How to make the most of a messy dispute

Janitors all over Boston took to the picket lines last night; today, trash cans from the World Trade Center to International Place will be overflowing with damp Starbucks cups, Burger King wrappers, and, yes, wadded copies of this very newspaper. Chances are, it's going to get worse. When the Service Employees International Union went on strike in other cities, the standoff lasted more than two weeks. That, friends, is a lot of office memos. Herewith, a few tips on how you and your fellow cubicle dwellers can weather the strike:

1. For your big presentation, skip the Power Point. Map out your firm's new fiscal strategy on crumpled paper towels scavenged from the men's room. Your boss will know you're serious about cost-cutting, and you'll clear a path to the urinals.

2. Celebrate Bring-a-Hefty-Bag-to-Work Day!

3. What to do when the copy machine runs out of toner, printing dozens of illegible reports five minutes before your meeting? Shred the offending sheaf and stuff it into the walls of your home. Insulation has never been so affordable!

4. Two words: No sushi. Three more words: At your desk.

5. Executive washroom out of toilet paper? Duh! What do you think that pile of junk mail is for?

6. Divvy up chores with fellow employees. Monday, vacuum. Tuesday, water plants. Wednesday, tamp down Dumpster to make room for another ton of trash. Hey, it worked in college.

7. Swiffer WetJet: great for bathroom floors, lousy on computer screens.

8. Make friends with the mice that scurry around your office late at night. You're going to be seeing a lot more of them.

9. Use this as an opportunity to clear out your cubicle. Cleaning contractors may bring in replacement workers during the strike; it's only a matter of time before one of them mistakes that 6 -inch stack of coffee-stained papers on the floor next to your computer (also known as the new budget report) for garbage.

10. Make like the French and drench yourself in cologne. It really overpowers the smell of rotting food-court leftovers!

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Fake Ad of the Day

Well, a logo, that is:

Courtesy of False Advertising.
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A Brand is Not an Ad Campaign

I used to joke with people who would ask me what exactly I do in advertising by saying, " Oh, I sell crap to people who neither need it nor want it"

It's too bad that there is so much crap out there and that our jobs put us in the position of selling that crap. Of course, it would be nice if you could hand pick your clients. Well, you can't. You can, however, give them some advice that I have long believed in.

Make damn sure that you have a well defined brand to start with before you even consider communicating any sort of brand message to your audience. You need help defining that? Sure, we will help you with that definition. But the solution is not throwing millions of media dollars at the problem like so many of us did (myself included) with the vaporware dotcom clients we all had.

Here is a wonderful article from MarketingProfs about the most important thing in building a brand: Consistency.

What Becomes A Brand Most?

Somewhere along the way, there�s been a presumption attached to the idea of branding. Many think that in order to brand your product or service, you must advertise. Not true. Many brands have grown and thrived without advertising: Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, and Pret A Manger spring to mind.

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Another Spammer Bites the Dust

Slashdot | California Sues Spammer for $2 Million

"The Mercury News reports that the California Attorney General, Bill Lockyer, filed suit against Internet marketer PW Marketing LLC, accusing the company of illegally spamming millions of Californians.

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The Camel Cadaver

In a previous post, I referred to an anti-smoking campaign that was done as a partnership between Crispin Porter & Bogusky (creators of the Truth campaign) and PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). As part of the campaign, stickers were handed out spoofing cigarette packaging to schoolchildren as young as 6 years old.

Tony from TonyPierce fame pointed out that the possible genisis for one of these stickers, Camel Cigarettes, came from the Wacky Packages originally created by Topps Chewing Gum Company. Starting in 1967 they produced "Die Cuts" which were perforated with glue on the back. Then in 1969 Topps produced "Wacky Ads" which were a little larger but still had to be punched from the card and the glue moistened. In 1973 Topps switched to a sticker back and thats when things went crazy or "wacky" and became an obsession to many kids.

So, there you go. There really are no more original ideas in advertising :-)

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A Good Site For Bad Ads

I'm quite sure I have seen this site before in a previous iteration but I know I have not seen it since I began this blog. The site is called BadAds.Org and the purpose of the site is to inform the public about the types of ads that are out there what the definition of a bad is is. According to the site, a bad ad is:

1. You can't turn it off. You can close a magazine and turn off the television, but billboards tower overhead night and day.

2. It enters your home without permission. Pardon me, Mr. Telemarketer, may I see your invitation?

3. You're a captive audience. This can be in schools, in movie theaters, at a urinal, or waiting for your receipt at the ATM.

4. It doesn't support anything, or it costs you money. Radio ads support free programming, but you pay, directly or indirectly, for faxed ads and junk e-mail.

In addition to this definition, there are sections on each advertising that includes an explanation as well as resources to help minimize the "badness". I think this site is a valuable service to consumers since, in most cases, it is the consumer that determines what is defined as an acceptable form of advertising. This site provides a forum for the creation of that definition.

It is also of great value to advertisers to know what the acceptable limits, as defined by the consumer, are. We all know that there are forms of advertising out there that are simply horrible. BadAds is not an ad slamming site as I see it. It is a site that brings clarity to the definition of acceptable consumer advertising. Are we marketers going to heed all of it's advice? Of course not. We are marketers after all:) But it pays to know what you are up against.

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