Hi, I'm Category Archives for Advertising
Mass appeal was never about mass
Modern marketing says mass appeal is over, but the truth is it never actually existed. Human beings are quirky by nature. We all want to be original. We want to be the one who had original thoughts, original ideas, original … Continue reading
Advertise better, not more aggressively
It’s no secret that advertising creative has gone down the tubes in the last decade. Businesses are now substituting aggressive online placement in place of strong concepts. Good advertising creative is smart marketing. Poor advertising creative, all too common today, … Continue reading
Why most advertising fails
When you’ve been in advertising as long as I have, you learn that there is really only one reason why most advertising fails, and it’s called fear. How fear manifests with regard to advertising presents in an almost endless list … Continue reading
Positive advertising: a quick case study of Comcast vs Qwest
Comcast and Qwest/Century Link are their own worst enemies. Alone, each is already known for their startlingly poor reputations. Pitted against each other, they only make it worse. One of the first things you learn in the advertising profession is … Continue reading
Pink toenails and the end of gender rules
Hats off to J.Crew president and creative director Jenna Lyons who had the good taste, confidence, and authenticity to let marketing send an email out to their database featuring a photo of her son with his freshly painted neon pink … Continue reading
Congratulations, Starbucks, on your chest-thumping ad campaign
An open letter to Starbucks’ marketing department: Your latest ad headline reads, “Thanks to everyone who helped make us the country’s #1 best coffee, which includes our great baristas.” Could you possibly have worded that any worse? What exactly does … Continue reading
People love advertising
People like to complain about advertising. They see it on the internet, on the tele, on billboards, in magazines, and in the mail, and it annoys them. People would prefer to have their entertainment cakes and just stare at them … Continue reading
What Advertising Is Not, a List
Advertising is not push. Advertising is not slow. Advertising is not wasteful. Advertising is not wow. Advertising is not interruption. Advertising is not necessarily big, nor is it necessarily expensive. Advertising is not outside of most companies’ budgets. Advertising is … Continue reading
IBM Rewrites An Old Headline, and Does It Well
In the 1950s, IBM founder Thomas Watson, famously said “Good design is good business.” Truer words, regarding design, were never spoken. IBM is now running an advertisement with the headline, “Green business is good business.” This is a smart redux … Continue reading
