Caffeinated posts from a copywriter/adgrunt. I write about advertising, design, astronomy, cooking, and pretty much anything else that strikes my fancy, including random bits of reference info for work purposes. You may also know me as 'that other gal' who helps run Adland. | make contact | RSS Feed | ATOM

Tuesday, April 26, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Arnold wins new biz ]

+ Brandweek reports that Radio Shack's $250 million national advertising account is heading to Arnold Worldwide, Boston. They beat out Deutsch L.A., TWBA/Chiat/Day and Carmichael Lynch in the review. This is good news for the Boston ad market. There haven't been many new wins (or such big wins) in the area which is needed to help boost and revitalize the ad economy after the dot com bust.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
[ :: sidetracks :: Simpson mp3s ]

+ Like the Simpsons? Check out Simpson Crazy's downloadable mp3s.

[ :: spacey :: Happy 15th Hubble ]

+ Space.com reports on the Hubble Telescope's 15th year. In celebration of the April 24th, 1990 launch, officals have released two new pics - one of the Eagle Nebula and the other of the Whirlpool Galaxy (a.k.a. spiral galaxy M51). There's also more at Hubblesite.org and the images will be shown mural size at museums, science centers, planetariums, nature centers and Challenger Centers around the country beginning April 25th. You can find out where near you here.
Friday, April 22, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Comment on Garfield's Chaos Scenario ]

+ If you haven't read Bob Garfield's "Chaos Scenario" you might want to head over to adage.com and have a read. It does bring up quite a few good points and although some might say his arguement is one-sided, he does take a look at both sides of the mania over the death of TV and the rush to new media.

One of the things that bothers me the most about this whole arguement, and I'm sure I've brought it up before, is the claim that viewers are now in control. Viewers have always been in control. If they hadn't been, then all those TV shows that the network executives loved but the population hated would have continuted to air, and not be killed after less than 10 shows getting to air. I also have to protest the theory that people have, prior to this "new freedom," taken everything that has been fed to them. Under that philosophy advertising has much more power than we all thought.

But it's not just the ad model; it's the content model, as well. Writer and former venture capitalist Om Malik looks at TiVo and the video-on-demand horizon and is prepared to call in the backhoes for the institution of the prime-time schedule.

"Hasn’t it collapsed already?" asks the author of Broadbandits: Inside the $750 Billion Telecom Heist. "Look at their viewership. Isn't it going down every day? I mean, we can pick and choose what foods we eat, what car we drive, what clothes we wear and what colognes we use. And some guy sitting in New York decides how I should watch?"

Since when were we not able to eat what we wanted? This isn't anything new and it drives me crazy that some people are sticking starbursts on, claiming it's new. Garfield's phrasing is probably the most accurate that I've seen- stating that "As more control has been placed in the hands of the consumer, the consumer has shown every intention of exercising it." And of course they are. Isn't that the whole point of creating such devices as TiVo?

The biggest issue in my opinion has nothing to do with media. It's not TV vs. Internet. It's quality of content. Good ads are watched. Bad ads aren't. And it doesn't matter what media you are talking about. It's about making the connection to the audience. It's about creating effective ads and communication pieces that engage. If people aren't watching network TV then perhaps the networks need to have a re-think of their programming. Quite frankly I think the majority of it stinks. Personally there are only two shows in particular that I can think of that I watch on network TV- The Simpsons and Law & Order. Everything else I watch is on cable. And that has to do with the quality of the programming. Feeding people more reality TV isn't going to solve the problem, and quite frankly I think we're hitting a saturation point with all the reality crap. At least I hope so.

But it all goes back to the point of creating something engaging for people. Quality not quanity. And if people don't think ads get watched, they should check out the number of people who posted over at Adland about that Darius Rucker BK ad. There were people who signed up just to be able to comment on it. And, true, there were a large number who hated the ad, but it also shows that it was watched. It had impact.

Jumping to new media willy-nilly doesn't make sense if you're just going to create more clutter for that medium. Not that there's really a way to avoid clutter, because it's going to happen...there's already clutter on the internet. But to cut through that clutter and to get people to want to participate or interact with you- it's going to need to be engaging. And perhaps the discussion in Garfield's article about fragmentation isn't a bad thing either. Fragmentation also allows for more targeted messaging. Which leads to the ability to make communication pieces more engaging to a particular audience. And whether that fragmentation occurs through new media or cable, it doesn't matter.

[ :: adgruntie :: Asia Ad Fest ]

+ Asia Ad Fest winners this year have top print honors to Bangkok's Creative Juice/G1 for this Tamiya assemble-the-toys campaign and top outdoor to TBWA/Tokyo for an Adidas "Impossible Sprint" extreme sports contest. More at the site.

[ :: adgruntie :: Viral community garden ]

+ CreativeMatch reports on Zopa, "the world’s first lending and borrowing exchange which puts people who want to lend money in touch with people who want to borrow", and their new viral campaign from Naked. The Garden of Zopa is an interactive gardening community/game.

Once the gardeners have chosen three plants from a selection of ten and planted their seeds, they can then invite friends to come in and water them. If a ‘watering’ friend chooses to start their own garden, any plants they grow will also be replicated in the garden they water which also allows them to see how far the chain has grown.

Sarah Matthews, Marketing Director at Zopa, said: “We have created the Garden of Zopa as a fun and engaging way of demonstrating some the underlying aspects of Zopa: personal involvement and people helping and trusting other people.”

Naked's styling of the Garden was inspired by animations of Monty Python's Terry Gilliam and the 1960's Archigram architecture movement.

[ :: adgruntie :: Don't kiss ovens ]

+ The BBC reports that a Fairy Power Spray TV advert starring celebrity chef Ainsley Harriot has breached the rules of the ASA. Apparently, Mr. Harriot rests his face on the hob and kisses the oven. Two complaints claiming that children could emulate his actions and could get hurt. Proctor & Gamble decided to be sure not to run the ad around shows children might be watching, to which the ASA agreed.

[ :: adgruntie :: Interview with ADK's pres ]

+ Asatsu-DK Inc (ADK) is Japan's third largest ad agency. JapanToday has an interview with its president Koichiro Naganuma. Here are a couple interesting bits from the interview:

What are ADK's strengths?

Because WPP has a 20% stake in ADK, we have direct influence from a Western company. That makes ADK a Westernized, transparent agency. Also, unlike many other Japanese ad agencies that are merely an extension of media organizations, we represent the client.

Another strength is our emotional branding, or Ex-Branding philosophy, in order to make a product attractive to consumers. To succeed in this business, you have to appeal to the senses, and we do that by taking a 360-degree approach, involving the full spectrum of media to get the consumers to feel an emotional response. After all, consumers judge your product through the final TV or print commercial.

What percentage of your clients are foreign companies?
About 25% of our billings come from Western companies in Japan.

What are some unique features of the Japanese advertising industry?
Most Japanese agencies get commission from the media, not the client, because they are extensions of the media organizations. Some media owners, instead of selling certain time slots to clients, might use them to advertise their own networks.

Another difference is the length of ads. Japanese TV commercials are generally only 15 seconds, so I think this lowers the quality. The only thing you can do in 15 seconds is mention your name and create basic awareness. That's one reason why foreign celebrities are used. They are an attention-getting device.

You said Japanese ads aren't very good. What's wrong with them?
I've seen a lot of ads from overseas and I think the fatal weakness of Japanese TV ads is lack of humor and simplicity. Japanese advertising concepts won't succeed overseas like that. Cute is OK but not in an international market. That's why I tell our people to be more creative.

How much potential do you see in new media?
I think the Internet has lots of potential. So do i-mode and cell phones. Clients cannot neglect the importance of the Internet. Of the time Japanese people allocate to the various media, No. 1 is TV, but the Internet is 2nd already, above newspapers and magazines.

Thursday, April 21, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Tom Waits gets legal over TV spot ]

+ Gigwise.com reports that according to Yahoo a Scandinavian TV commercial for Opel cars has been attacked by Waits because he did not give permission for his music to be used.

He has said: “In answer to the many queries I have received: No, I did not do the Opel car commercial currently running on TV in Scandinavia. I have a long-standing policy against my voice or music being used in commercials and I have lawyers over there investigating my options. But I got to tell you, it doesn't look good. This is the third car ad, after Audi in Spain and Lancia in Italy."

Waits went on to say: "If I stole an Opel, Lancia, or Audi, put my name on it and resold it, I'd go to jail. But over there they ask, you say no, and they hire impersonators. They profit from the association and I lose - time, money, and credibility. What's that about? Commercials are an unnatural use of my work ... it's like having a cow's udder sewn to the side of my face. Painful and humiliating."

[ :: adgruntie :: Ad/Mtking execs have messiest desks ]

+ A press release from a study conducted by Lexmark UK has found that advertising and marketing people tend to have the messiest desks.

The worst professionals for paper hoarding were advertising & marketing executives, with an average of 163 pieces of paper on their desks at any one time. 17% admitted they couldn't actually see their desk tops beneath the clutter.

Conversely, civil servants led the most clutter-free existence, with an average paper count of just 114 sheets. 13% of accountants confessed it can take them up to ten minutes to find a valuable document on their desk.

The messiest professionals, ranked by the state of their desks were:

1.     Marketing/Advertising executives
2.     IT Professionals
3.     Legal Workers
4.     Accountants
5.     Civil Servants

Surprisingly, the fewer the number of employees in a company, the more paper each employee had on their desks...

I'm not really surprised though. I know I go through phases where my desk looks like a tree exploded all over it. ;-)
Monday, April 18, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Research and ad agencies ]

+ Reasearch is ad agencies' new friend. An interesting bit:

For years, advertising research was perceived on Madison Avenue as a staid, even quaint, field with little practical relevance. Now, as clients increasingly hold agencies accountable for effective ads, the researchers are being eagerly sought out.

In response, the research industry is intensifying its efforts and looking at issues like trying to determine the return on investment for advertising spending, improving the measurement of audiences in media like television and the Internet, helping agencies identify the most efficient media outlets and increasing the role that market research plays in reaching consumers.

And another bit here:

That sentiment is endorsed by J. Walker Smith, president of Yankelovich Partners, a market research company.
"When marketers wrestle with their media budgets, trying to decide whether to use traditional media like TV or take some of those dollars and put them into new media like the Internet, the debate is pushing us in the wrong direction," Smith said in an interview last week.

"The real issue in re-engaging consumers is good marketing practices versus bad marketing practices. We have to change the way we practice, regardless of the media."

Very good point here. Rushing off to new media just because it seems the way that traditional models are breaking down isn't the best solution to the problem at hand. Especially when the problem has more fundamental and complex issues than media use.

[ :: adgruntie :: Celebs for drugstore brands ]

+ Garnier pays Heather Graham to shill hair color. I saw one of the ads over the weekend and I had to wonder, does anyone really believe that celebrities actually color their hair with the product?

With the wads of cash that these folk have, picturing them at home, donning plastic gloves and sitting in a bathroom that's probably the size of many entire houses seems very comical. I have a hard time believing such stuff. Are we to suspend all reality and really not think that they go to the trendiest of hair salons? Perhaps they hand a box of the hair coloring brand they shill to their stylists to do it for them. ;-)

Are we so enamored with celebrities that we'll line up for anything they shill, just because they're in an ad for a product you'd probably never see them using? Even with Mabelline and Revlon ads, the thinking consumer has to ponder if the celebs they round up for their ads actually use drugstore brand cosmetics and hair color. Or maybe it's just me being cynical. It is Monday after all.

[ :: adgruntie:: BK ad reviewed ]

+ The BG News tries to figure out BK's latest ads.

Talk about sensory overload. Never before has an ad campaign been fused with such a delightfully weird combination of camp, soft-core sex and, well, fast food. Whoever the ad firm was that designed this thing was either on the crazy side of brilliant or the brilliant side of criminally deranged. The stimuli of sound, color, and very odd images looked like something out of Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory. The feel of the whole ad doesn't even belong in this century. The straight-laced decade of the '00s are all about family values and politicized morality.

Friday, April 15, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Got PMS? ]

+ Got PMS? The California Milk Proccessor Board has a new "Got Milk?" ad that will start airing in California on Monday. Created by Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, SF, the ad touts the power of milk to help ease PMS symptoms.

According to St. Luke-Roosevelt Hospital researchers at Columbia University, calcium cuts the physical and emotional symptoms of PMS in half. They found specifically that women on high-calcium diets were less irritable, weepy, and depressed. Plus, they averted backaches, cramping and bloating.

"Milk is the ultimate comfort food," stresses Jeff Goodby, "Milk to the Rescue" director and co-founder, Goodby, Silverstein and Partners. "And it's right there in your fridge."

Studies also reveal that more than 70 per cent of relationships are affected by PMS(**). So it's a male issue too ... something most men already know.

"Milk to the Rescue" opens on scenes of desperate men stocking up on gallons of milk. The frantic looks on their faces is puzzling until we zero in on a guy coming home with grocery bags full of milk -- and a bouquet of flowers -- and learn that milk makes that "time-of-the-month" less so. Cautiously our guy enters the house and yells "honey, I'm home." And the universal look on his face leads to that now famous tagline, "GOT MILK?"

"We're exploring this in a respectful and lighthearted way," says Jeff Manning, executive director, California Milk Processor Board (CMPB). "We hope that women and men both will find it funny and helpful."

Thursday, April 14, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Interactive HHGTG ad ]

+ Buena Vista International is launching its first interactive TV campaign to promote 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'.

The interactive ad, created by Momentum Productions, is part of a multimedia integrated advertising campaign supported by Sky and Buena Vista.
[...snip...]
By pressing the red button during the ad, viewers enter a site that introduces them to characters such as Zaphod Beebelbrox and Slartibartfast, a behind-the-scenes clip about Jim Henson's Creature Shop, a preview clip from the film and a mobile phone competition.

The 30- and 20-second spots spots feature a call to action advising viewers "Don't Panic! Just press the red button on your remote now!" to relate to the 'Hitchhiker''s guide motto of "Don't Panic!"
Guy Meyer, managing director of Momentum Productions, said: "The use of iTV is the perfect way for film distributors to give audiences added value, in addition to the standard 30-second and 20-second television commercials."

Robert Mitchell, senior vice-president of marketing at Buena Vista International UK, said: "Interactivity is something that we have looked at before but we didn't just want to use it to run extended trailers on television as other film distributors have in the past.Instead, we have created something that really offers the viewer new material, something they will not find anywhere else -- this really is interactive advertising."

Yay. The ad is will be broadcast starting April 15th (tomorrow), and hopefully there will be an online version of it as it sounds like it's just going to be seen by those with iTV.

[ :: adgruntie :: Teaching kids about advertising ]

+ Toy giant Hasbro is directing a marketing effort at schools with a free board game about advertising.

The US firm will distribute 10,000 free copies of the game to primary school students, claiming it will help improve literacy among six- to 11-year-olds.

Hasbro says Media Smart's Game of Life, in which students plan marketing campaigns, will teach them about "persuasive writing, jingles and puns".

The game is backed by Media Smart, the industry body that promotes advertising awareness and is funded by McDonald's, Masterfoods, Procter & Gamble and advertising agencies including Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO and DDB London.

The game explains how to market everything from mobile phones to charities. Schoolchildren will earn points if their advertising campaign gets a positive review or if it is shortlisted for a reward, but suffer if the marketing budget is cut or the product packaging is bad.

Sounds cool. I'd like to get my hands on one of these.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Ad news blips ]

+ Versace replaces Madonna with Demi Moore.
+ Feds reject A-B's claims against Miller Brewing's ads.
+ "Family Guy" changing TV Economics- I wish they'd pick up Futurama instead. It's a thousand times better.
+ Advertising Campaign for the 2006 Audi A3.
+ Next week The Observer will attempt to seize on the inevitable resurgence in the cult Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy next week when it gives away a free copy of Restaurant at the End of the Universe in a polybag with every copy of the paper. Sweet.
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Surfing ad blogs ]

+ This morning while I enjoy a cup of java, I'm doing some blog surfing. Here are a few blogs that look interesting and are worth the visit.

@ Spots&Stains- a critical analysis of the ads you see on TV (and occasionally in other media, too) by AdCritic...no, not the one at adcritic.com as far as I can tell.

@ Scott Goodson's Blog - by Scott Goodson, co-founder and chief creative officer of StrawberryFrog.

@ AdScam - an advertising creative consultant's rant about the current state of the business.

@ Adlova - the ad lover's joint.

[ :: adgruntie :: Goin' back to game shows ]

+ The NYTimes reports on a new trend in advertising...going back to TV game shows to promote products and services. The twist is that the majority of the examples they use in the article are actual advertisements that spoof the game show genre-not so much the same way that game shows of yore pimped the products.

Thankfully one of these brands is Orbitz with a new game show campaign replacing that horrid "don't think twice" campaign that ran for way way too long. Crappy animation, crappy/annoying jingle. Instead we'll get to see Wink Martindale host the "imaginary "Take On Orbitz" game show mimicking his old-school appearance, down to the dated flashing lights and sliding doors on the set as well as the corny cheers of the make-believe audience." The campaign is by Y&R Chicago. Good or not, I can't say until I see it, but I welcome the change!
Monday, April 11, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Doc Who and phone booths ]

+ MediaWeek.co.uk reports that Doctor Who will be taking over phone booths in London to promote the new Doctor Who series DVDs. "Starting May 9th, 450 phone kiosks will be overhauled to become the Doctor's Tardis time travel machine in a campaign lasting six weeks." There's an image if you follow the link.

[ :: adgruntie :: Carat embraces blogs ]

+Today Carat Interactive annouced that they are offering a "blogging practice" as a part of their integrated media planning and buying service, in tandem with their creative and content group.

"Some of the most loved and most trafficked sites on the Web are blogs," said Toby Gabriner, President of Carat Interactive. "Leading brands have a unique opportunity to extend their online advertising program with blogs, and with this new focus within the media group, we can help clients understand how best to integrate blogging into their marketing programs."
[...snip...]
"For advertisers, blogs offer a number of opportunities ranging from standard graphical and text ads to a two-way communication channel with customers to test products and messages," said John Cate, Vice President and National Media Director. "In the coming years, blogs will play an increasingly important role in establishing customer dialogue and communications planning."

Carat will focus on placing ads on blogs or blog networks, creating blogs to encourage two-way dialogue between brand and customer, and monitoring blogs to follow what's being said about brands within the blogging community.
Friday, April 08, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Building brands or building parity? ]

+ Is advertising really building brands?

Today there are few companies that seem to focus on product differentiation and support it with brand communication. While companies think their products are well differentiated, very few consumers accept it. One reason could be that consumers don't find the differentiation relevant. Or the company may not be communicating this convincingly. Advertising that merely looks different from competition also is unlikely to succeed with the consumer. Which brings us back to the old maxim that for brand-building there must be a conceptual difference in the offering, which satisfies the consumer's latent or inner needs/ wants. And great advertising is one that clearly identifies this and convincingly conveys it to the consumer.

Great advertising may well be the only difference in a world of product and service similarities, the only difference between parity and uniqueness, between mediocrity and distinction, between failure and success. Great advertising may be the only real difference in a world where perceived parity has become reality.

In the article, Srinivasan K. Swamy, CEO of R K Swamy BBDO Pvt. Ltd. in India, uses life insurance as examples, but it is easy to see what he is talking about in almost every country and in a wide range of categories. Take body sprays for men for example. What's the difference between Tag, Axe/Lynx, and Old Spice Red Zone? The scent, most likely. And their advertising communicates only that it will get you laid- all of them. So the one thing that is different about them, is something they don't really discuss in their ads, which I suppose is understandable - it would be a hard thing to demonstrate or talk about.

But then shouldn't the concepts and the positioning of the advertisements be different from each other? Without the logo or mention of the brand, you should be able to tell one from another, and yet you cannot. Although it is easier to tell Old Spice from the others as their ads tend to be more tame than the other two. But it's still not different enough to make it stand out from the rest. And that in my opinion is bad marketing and bad advertising. Axe (and Lynx) was out first and so their strategy is ok. But for the other brands to make their strategy parity that of Axe is just not a smart move. All they are doing is increasing the parity of the brands...which even with parity brands advertising is supposed to help make them different and stand out.

[ :: adgruntie :: Elton John and AirTran ]

+AirTran uses Elton John's image on their planes.

Last month, AirTran Airways, a low-cost airline serving 43 cities, painted giant pictures of Elton John's face on many of its planes. [...snip...]But something changed with Air Tran's new ad campaign. Elton John didn't allow them to use his name, his body, his music or his voice. The only thing they could rent was his face.
[...snip...]
And stalk them, too. AirTran was so overwhelmed with people calling to find out where they could see the planes that they temporarily established an “Elton Tracking System” on their Web site. We've gone from stalking celebrities on the ground to stalking their images in the air.

Thanks to AirTran, even the skies aren't safe from advertising. What are their planes but billboards at 30,000 feet? And I might add, billboards of an out gay man flying through the airspace of states that voted to ban gay marriage.

It's a testament to the power of celebrity worship that the airline was willing to pay for advertising that reaches more birds than people.

Of all the ironies in this story, my favorite is the idea of plastering the face of star known for his over-the-top extravagance on a dirt-cheap airline he wouldn’t step foot on. Like all low-cost carriers, AirTran is basically a bus with wings. I know, because I fly it often (and recommend it frequently).

Another irony is that Elton isn't endorsing AirTran. He's actually a spokesperson for XM Satellite Radio, which is now available on AirTran planes. He granted XM, not AirTran, the rights to his image.

Strange...especially since it's XM that has the rights to the image. I wonder what Elton thinks of this.

[ :: adgruntie :: GM pulls ads from LA Times ]

+From the LA Times via Reuters:

General Motors Corp. has pulled its advertising from the Los Angeles Times over what it called factual errors and misrepresentations in the newspaper, a spokesman for the automaker said Thursday.

GM did not say how much it spent on advertising in the Times, one of the largest U.S. newspapers, or how long the ban would continue.

"General Motors decided this week to cease advertising in the Los Angeles Times based on strongly voiced objections from our dealers in California about factual errors and misrepresentations in the Times' editorial coverage," said GM spokesman Brian Akre.

The Los Angeles Times, owned by newspaper publisher Tribune Co., could not immediately be reached for comment.

Ok so the funny thing about this I think, is that this story is linked to the LATimes.com...and the story is from Reuters. But the LATimes is publishing that they couldn't be reached for comment. I find it amusing. Maybe that's because I'm still half-asleep or something. Since the LATimes is reg req- here's another link to read the story at here. Apparently the controversal bit was in an editorial from the Times auto critic Dan Neil, who wrote negatively about the company's brand strategy and called on GM to "dump" Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner.

[ :: adgruntie :: Rbk goes on-demand with ads ]

+Reebok (aka Rbk) gets into on-demand advertising starting next week in Philidelphia.From the press release:

In the latest example of Reebok's fully integrated marketing campaign for "I Am What I Am," viewers will be looking for bonus footage from exclusive interviews with Philadelphia hometown hero, Allen Iverson, as well as hip-hop stars Jay-Z and 50 Cent. Rbk partnered with BrightLine Partners to create its video-on-demand (VOD) advertising that will launch April 11, 2005.

The campaign signals Rbk's first foray into VOD advertising, further exhibiting Rbk's market leading approach to reaching target audiences that increasingly expect and want a personalized, on demand television experience.

The campaign, designed and implemented by iTV ad agency BrightLine Partners establishes Rbk as the first in their category to begin embracing iTV advertising as an increasingly critical means of reaching target audiences. "This first step in interactive TV advertising with VOD enables Rbk to maximize consumer access to, and the overall impact of, Rbk's extensive library of content from celebrity endorsements," said Jacquie Corbelli, CEO of BrightLine Partners.

Viewers will get to choose from a variety of 30 second interview excerpts from the celebs Rbk uses in the "I am what i am" campaign.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Importance of transparency ]

+ BrandRepublic reports that PR crises loom for firms that fail to 'respect' bloggers. And what do ya know? AdLand is listed as one of best three in the marketing and advertising sector in a study by global PR agency Edelman and market research firm and blog portal provider Intelliseek. The study says firms that become aggressive towards bloggers or attempt to ignore their comments are facing a losing battle.

Instead the report, called 'Trust MEDia... How Real People are Finally Being Heard', urges firms "to respond quickly, with the facts and with respect" to unfavourable comments made on blogs. Above all, firms should never lie because "those in the 'blogosphere' will find out and humiliate you".

Key blunders by firms include making unfounded criticism against bloggers, pretending to be someone you are not and paying people to write kind things about your firm.
[...snip...]
Pete Blackshaw, chief marketing officer at Intelliseek, said: "Mazda totally ignored the importance of transparency. Corporate blogs are OK, but they must be labelled and identified as such. Bloggers are savvy, inherently sceptical, defensive of their medium and able to sniff out imposters quickly."

Right on Pete. So very correct on that one. And yay for AdLand. :) V. nice.

[ :: adgruntie :: Adobe's CS2 ad campaign ]

+ You might have heard the rumors about Adobe's CS2 that have been circulating during the last couple weeks due to AppleInsider's aquiring of company-authored documents in March. Well, now the news is officially out and a press release has been issued on the creative for the ad campaign.

Adobe Systems Incorporated today debuted its "Everything but the Idea" ad campaign, designed to reinforce the company's connection to the creative professional community and drive demand for Adobe(R) Creative Suite 2, announced yesterday. The ad campaign -- which aims to create a deeper, more emotional connection with graphic artists, designers and other creative professionals -- was developed by advertising firm Goodby, Silverstein & Partners of San Francisco. The campaign represents a broad strategic marketing effort by Adobe that includes advertising, direct marketing, public relations and special events such as the Ideas Conference held in New York yesterday.

Building on the success of Adobe's "Design Therapy" campaign in 2003, the new ads reach out to graphic designers, illustrators, professional photographers, art directors and the creative industry at large by expressing Adobe's passion for ideas and demonstrating the company's strong understanding of the creative process. The campaign positions the new Adobe Creative Suite 2 as the essential, integrated and upgraded software needed to help bring ideas to life.

The imagery used in the ads catches designers, photographers, illustrators and others at the precise moment when they're on the cusp of having a big idea, often working late at night. Renowned photographer Philip-Lorca diCorcia shot the photographs featured in the ad series. The copy speaks the "insider" language of creative professionals, helping to establish a more immediate connection.

"We're demonstrating Adobe's compassion for what creative pros live through every day: the constant struggle to generate fresh ideas," said Melissa Dyrdahl, senior vice president of corporate marketing and communications at Adobe. "Rather than focus on individual product features and benefits, the 'Everything but the Idea' campaign demonstrates Adobe's understanding that ideas are at the foundation of every designer's world."

The campaign consists of three ads, which will run in leading design industry publications, including Archive, CMYK, Communication Arts, Eye, HOW, ID, Print and Step Inside Design, as well as outlets that designers turn to for creative inspiration such as Flaunt, Surface, Wallpaper, Black Book, Dwell, and Nylon. Outdoor ads will run in New York on phone kiosks, transit shelters, urban panels and wild postings at construction sites.

To extend the print and outdoor ad effort, the campaign includes a series of online ads, to be featured on sites such as Adcritic.com, CommArts.com, and Newstoday.com. Using clever, spare text and clean graphics, the online ads aim to engage their audience on a highly personal level. One banner ad invites readers to pitch Goodby, Silverstein's creative director Rich Silverstein a creative concept, as if in a one-on-one meeting. Other ads fantasize about the "idea fairy" and comment slyly on the pressure to win awards for creative work. To round out its marketing mix, Adobe hosted the Ideas Conference yesterday in New York. The event -- where Adobe Creative Suite 2 was formally launched to an audience of 1,000 creative professionals -- featured presentations from design industry luminaries, keynotes from Adobe executives, and hands-on workshops.

"Like our audience, we live, eat, sleep and breathe what creative professionals do on a daily basis, which allowed us to bring special insight and humor into the ads," said Rich Silverstein, creative director and co-chairman of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. "The campaign imagery shows that Adobe feels what designers feel, and the text communicates in a voice that is sophisticated, yet honest, human and real, without any technical jargon and advertising double-talk."

Friday, April 01, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: More music and advertising ]

+ It looks like McD's isn't the only one jumping on the music/advertising bandwagon. The Chicago Tribune reports that "Collective Soul is joining up with Chicago-based advertising agency Leo Burnett USA as part of its new "artists-in-residence" program. Leo Burnett, which represents big name clients such as McDonald's, Nintendo, Disney and Kellogg, started the program last week with Collective Soul and plans to bring in musicians and producers on a regular basis to work with the agency's creative teams on new ideas."

Cheryl Berman, chairman and chief creative officer of Leo Burnett USA, conceived the project as a way to establish direct relationships with musicians and explore new options for adding music to advertisements.

It's getting harder for Leo Burnett and other advertisers to capture consumers' attention when they have to compete with TiVos, iPods and other entertainment-on-demand devices that put consumers in charge. Good music can help cut through the clutter, Berman said.

"It's not OK to do mediocre ideas and elevator music," Berman said. "They'll tune you out."

With the artists-in-residence program, Berman hopes collaborations between musicians and ad people will lead to finding that perfect music for an ad. That could mean using existing songs or getting musicians to write something new for commercials.

"I think we're done with the days of jingles to sell you something," Berman said.

I didn't even know Collective Soul was still out there. heh.

[ :: adgruntie :: Perdue and Coors ]

+ It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken. Frank Perdue died yesterday. Known for being in his ads (a la Dave of Wendy's) , "his TV commercial persona helped boost sales from $56 million in 1970 to more than $1.2 billion by 1991 when he turned the reins over to his son, Jim."

+ Coors unveils new ads for 2005.

The new advertising engages consumers with humor, familiar social settings, and great music. The spots reinforce that Coors Light delivers the ultimate in cold refreshment, with the coldest tasting beer in the world.

"The heart of Coors Light marketing is to communicate that in every bottle, can and glass of Coors Light is the taste of Rocky Mountain cold refreshment," said Buxton. "In everything we do this year, we will engage our drinkers and dramatize our unique Coors Light benefits."

Unfortunately for Coors, you don't taste cold....you feel it. This really irks me about this campaign. It's inaccurate in attempting to communicate the benefit. And I think makes Coors look stupid. Anyhoo, the creative looks like this:

Coors Light Spots
"Silver Bullet Train" - Foote Cone & Belding, Chicago
Music: The O'Jay's "Love Train"
Tagline: "Taste the Cold"
Celebrity involvement: Ice T
Summary: This spot features a special Coors Light freight train that delivers Rocky Mountain cold refreshment to hot, thirsty people across the country. The train begins in the Rockies, loaded with Coors Light, and rolls through places like a NASCAR event, Miami Beach and a Hollywood red carpet event to the tune of The O'Jays hit song, "Love Train." The spot features a cameo appearance from rapper and actor Ice T.

"Busboy" - Foote Cone & Belding, Chicago
Music: Original music by Genuine Music
Tagline: "Taste the Cold"
Summary: This spot takes place in a neighborhood bar where an enthusiastic busboy is eagerly clearing tables of empty Coors Light bottles. When the waitress tells the bar manager how impressed she is with the new busboy, the manager replies, "I didn't hire a busboy." It becomes obvious that the busboy is an imposter, grabbing all the Coors Light bottles he can because he found out how to win free music downloads of previously unreleased music by artists such as Moby, Oasis, Brooks & Dunn, and John Legend.

"Shock" - Foote Cone & Belding, Chicago
Music: Original music by Genuine Music
Summary: This spot takes place in a hospital where our lead character is smiling, firmly clutching a Coors Light bottle, and appears to be in shock. A doctor is informed that he froze up with excitement upon learning how to participate in a Coors Light promotion and win tickets to the Super Bowl as well as prizes from the NFL properties and their partners. Suddenly, the doctor dives for the bottle, grabbing and pulling to get the bottle from the patient's tight grip.

"Plastic Cooler Box" - Foote Cone & Belding, Chicago
Music: Original music by I Dig Music
Summary: This spot supports the product launch of the new Coors Light Cooler Box filled with 18 16-ounce plastic bottles in a specially lined box that holds ice. The spot takes place on the beach where two guys check out a beautiful woman and her icy-cold Cooler Box.

"Mom" - Foote Cone & Belding, Chicago
Music: Original music by I Dig Music
Tagline: "Taste the Cold"
Summary: A guy at a backyard pool with his girlfriend and her parents takes a gulp of Coors Light just as his girlfriend's mom gets out of the pool. After his refreshing gulp, the guy says, "Ahh, nice". Unfortunately for him, his girlfriend, her mom and dad think his "Ahh, nice" comment was directed at mom.

"Phone Call" - Foote Cone & Belding, Chicago
Music: Original music by I Dig Music
Tagline: "Taste the Cold"
Summary: A guy in his living room finally works up the nerve to call a woman he recently met. While dialing her number he takes a refreshing gulp of Coors Light. Just as she answers the phone, he says, "Ahh." Unfortunately for him, she mistakes his "Ahh" as an obscene sound from a perverted caller.

Pete Coors: "Windows;" "Up Here;" "Memory;" and "Rockies" - Foote Cone & Belding, Chicago
Music: John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" by Emoto Music
Summary: These four spots feature Pete Coors as a spokesman for Coors Light. Set in the snow-peaked Rocky Mountains, Pete speaks frankly about why Coors Light has a uniquely refreshing cold taste, while answering questions like, "How refreshing is your beer? Where was your beer born? Is your beer Rocky Mountain cold?"

"Ice City" - Re-edit by Foote Cone & Belding, Chicago
Music: Jane's Addiction "Mountain Song"
Tagline: "Taste the Cold"
Summary: This spot, which was originally created by the Leith Agency and was re-edited by Foote Cone & Belding, shows how a Rocky Mountain cold Coors Light can turn a dreary hot summer day into a wonderful icy-cold experience.

Hispanic Spots
"Beach" - Bromley Communications
Music: Original
Tagline: "Asi de fria" ("It's cold like that")
Summary: The spot opens at a beach where a group of friends is hanging out during a hot summer day. A group of friends go to the beach bar to get icy cold Coors Light. When a Coors Light can is opened, the coldness of Coors Light spreads throughout the beach, freezing a table, a volleyball net, and even the sand. The music gets louder and the party gets better.

"Bar" - Bromley Communications
Music: Original
Tagline: "Asi de fria" ("It's cold like that")
Summary: The spot takes place at a "norteno," a regional Mexican bar, where a group of male and female friends who have just left the dance floor are extremely hot. When one of the guys opens a Coors Light bottle, it releases the cold of Coors Light and we see how the cold mist is enjoyed by a woman who is playing pool. The ice cold Coors Light freezes the pool table, snow flurries fall from a ceiling fan and even the dance floor becomes frozen.

"Rooftop" - Bromley Communications
Music: Original
Tagline: "Asi de fria" ("It's cold like that")
Summary: The commercial takes place at an urban rooftop where a group of friends is watching a boxing game. The afternoon is hot and the friends clearly need some refreshment. One of the guys cracks open a Coors Light, releasing a cold that freezes the "chicharrones" (a Hispanic snack), the TV screen and eventually the whole neighborhood. People are so refreshed that they start dancing and the party gets better.

"Ice City" - Re-edit by Bromley Communications
Music: Original
Tagline: "Asi de fria" ("It's cold like that")
Summary: This spot, which was originally created by the Leith Agency and was re-edited by Bromley Communications, shows how a Rocky Mountain cold Coors Light and Latino hip hop music can turn a dreary hot summer day into a wonderful icy-cold experience for a group of Latino friends.

African American/Urban Spots
"Ice House DJ" - Carol H. Williams Advertising
Music: Original
Tagline: "Taste the Cold"
Summary: It's a hot night in the city and a guy enters a hot, exciting club. Everyone is dancing and enjoying the night but they're clearly hot. The DJ mixes it up by opening a cold Coors Light and spreading cold refreshment, seen visually as frost, throughout the party. The frost chills the mic, the speakers and everyone on the dance floor. The spot demonstrates the cold refreshment of Coors Light in an urban setting.

Quite honestly, I think the Hispanic spots have a much better tagline than the English/Urban spots. "It's cold like that" is great and a thousand times better than "Taste the cold" which is just inane. I'm not sure why this ruffles my feathers so much, but man, oh, man it does.

[ :: adgruntie :: Happy Birthday AdLand! ]

+ AdLand is celebrating its 9th birthday today. No, it's not an April Fool's joke. And the loverly Dabitch is giving away 100 free upgrades to SuperAdgrunt status. All you have to do is take the quiz and get 100% right to be entered for a chance to win. Very very cool. The contest ends next Friday (April 8th).