Casual Fridays

This week, I had the opportunity to talk with Tim O’Leary over the phone. Tim is the CEO of Respond2, an advertising agency who admits traditional ads no longer work. Instead of creating entertainment and labeling it “branding” or simply settling for exposure, Respond2 creates direct response campaigns for a variety of impressive […]

The guys at Eepybird.com have put together an extreme demonstration of what happens when you mix Diet Coke and Mentos.
Clever.
Entertaining.
Worthy of my attention.
Everything that so many products and advertisements fail to be.

Is there a difference between depth and authenticity?
… between shallowness and a lie?
We’re a society that is defined more and more by soundbites. Defining others more and more by snapshots. The problem is we’re not that good at it.
In the majority of companies and the majority of ad agencies today, there is no […]

Jose put together a cute and clever parody of Apple’s recent ads. This time we get to see how mass media networks compare to podcasts.

Don’t worry, I’m not attempting to rip off Gaping Void. It’s more of a weak tribute to Hugh’s recent drawing.
I didn’t want to wait until Friday.

Apple recently released some fairly clever advertising.
What Works
As usual, Apple’s ads are carefully branded as they continue with a very clean and cool image. Unlike most of the iTunes ads, these strike a humorous tone. They are playful. Even so, they are not insultingly simple. Instead of playing the PC as […]

… when you can simply advertise with Blue Sheep?
I think Blue Sheep is a great example of the mindset of most advertisers and marketers today. The effort to be different is focused almost exclusively on the promotion. Meanwhile, their positioning (brand), product, pricing, placement (distribution), and people are unremarkable.
This is Flash-in-the-pan thinking. […]

Sex sells.
I won’t deny that. It does.
But sometimes we mistake that to mean selling sex works.
I’m sure you either saw or heard about the basely provocative GoDaddy ads over the last 2 years. I’m also sure that they saw some increase in sales just because of the PR generated by the blatantly sensational […]

In working with a client I have been asking the question, “Why do your customers remain loyal?” I’ve gotten different answers for what is at the top of the list. But there is something consistently at the bottom:
Consistency and reliability.
Consistency is not seen as a priority for them. Honestly, I don’t blame […]

This is probably less insight, and more of just a flippant observation.
My wife and I were watching some college basketball last night. During which, we saw an ad for Carrabba’s, one of our favorite places to eat. Toward the end of the commercial, Johnny Carrabba says, “This may be the best Italian food […]