Technology Wins – Top 10 Back-to-School Ads

08/29/2011 | admin

1. Microsoft: PC or Mini Fridge?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz5OdiXIV1M&feature=player_embedded

As a kid, the end of August was always full of anticipation and excitement – back to school time! I would actually look forward to school shopping – picking out fresh new binders and coordinating folders, setting up each binder with the necessary section dividers for each class. OK, I was a really odd, really organized little kid.

All grown up, and the end of summer is still exciting. It brings back all those familiar feelings of being granted a new opportunity and a fresh start – the world is your oyster.

Back to school is also one of the most important times of the year for brands and retailers. It’s the second-biggest selling season next to the winter holidays! Apparel, shoes, school supplies, technology -with $69 billion in sales to fight over, you better step up your marketing game.

But in an underwhelming ad season, most of the brands in the must-buys (clothing, supplies, etc.) showed up to the game with lack luster enthusiasm. It was by and far left to the technology categories to push the creativity this year – brands including Microsoft, Dell and Best Buy.

“Retailers go into announcement mode, and for the most part those don’t resonate well. Retailers aren’t developing [apparel] creative stories particularly well, and they’re missing out on an opportunity,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix. “What really resonated well this year tended to be tech-oriented. Those ads either had an interesting product or an interesting new message.”

Thanks to Ad Age for printing Ace Metrix’s list of top back-to-school ads. Creative effectiveness of ads is ranked by viewer reaction to national TV ads. Here’s the top 5 back-to-school ads…

1. See Microsoft above!

2. JC Penney: Turn your small change into Pennies from Heaven

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_3Kb9yHz4s&feature=player_embedded

Continue reading →

Top 3 Things to do on a Rainy Day – Blogs, Buns and Brownies, YUM!

08/25/2011 | admin

It’s gloomy, the storm clouds are brewing, and the rain is trickling down your window. Cue the cuddly comforts of a rainy Thursday.

You may have no other motivation than to simply cuddle up in bed all day, but here’s the top 3 best things to do on a rainy day to make yourself feel only semi-productive. Continue reading →

The 5 Second Rule

05/26/2011 | admin

Technically, it’s not the culinary type of mistake that advertisers make; it’s the less palatable kind and spoils easily. Some consumers might even develop an aversion to the stimuli, but that can totally be avoided with the 5 second rule. It’s crucial, it’s vital, it’s necessary and here at MOS Creative we make it delicious once again.

We’ve all heard the expression: “first impressions are usually the correct ones.” Well, this is soo true, especially for the ad world. You have 5 seconds to make the consumer 1) believe that this product will make them or their life better, 2) that they won’t find anything better and 3) their money and time is going to right place.

So how do you do this? Don’t let the value, originality, and creativity fall on the floor.

Make it clear
Make it fast
Make it real

Life is short. Make those seconds count.

You’ve Been A Bad, Bad Ad!

04/19/2011 | admin

Next month, the FDA will be celebrating the first birthday of their brain child, the Bad Ad Program…

Whaaaat? You mean you’ve never heard of the Bad Ad program? Well, we wouldn’t blame you. Since the program began in May of 2010 there have been over 239 complaints. Nope, not 239,000… but 239 total.

The basic premise of this program is “to educate healthcare providers about the role they can play in helping the agency make sure that prescription drug advertising and promotion is truthful and not misleading” (source: www.fda.gov).

Launched by the FDA’s Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising and Communication, it has commissioned a small secret police, whoops, I mean agency, which takes into account the various sorts of advertising violations. Continue reading →

Are They Doing It Right?

04/15/2011 | admin

Social advertising in the 21st century is a necessary tool for any successful company. With SOOOOOOO many mobile web design companies emerging from the woodwork - and with good reason, I mean this industry is growing by the minute! – You have to ask yourself one question… Are they doing it right?

What if making your own mobile site was as easy as typing up this blog? That’s the idea behind Web2Mobile. Honestly, if you can write an email, you can build a mobile site!

Web2Mobile is offering step-by-step tutorials for each and every aspect of building your very own mobile site. We offer FAQs, a 24-hour editor from which you can edit anytime and from anywhere, custom website templates by professional in-house designers, and proven success tips from world-renowned web designers.

Not only can you build multiple sites without creating additional accounts, but there are no limits to how big you can make your site. You can build two pages or 50 pages, there’s NO extra cost!

Possibly the best offer to prove our righteousness is our 14-day risk-free trial of building a 1 page mobile site design.

There’s no question, we’re definitely doing it right!

Your Fear of Searching the Mobile Web has a Cure!

04/11/2011 | admin

Don’t you hate when you’re surfing the web on your mobile phone, but the website does not fit perfectly on your screen? You may have to enlarge it and scroll to read the text, or try and zoom in? Looking at websites on your phone at times is not fun. However, there is a very simple answer to this conundrum. Web2Mobile, Inc. is the nations first mobile software in the United States that allows users build a mobile website in just three steps! Continue reading →

Stop. Now read the next two questions.

03/31/2011 | admin

Who am I? And why am I here?

These are the questions that circled through my mind as I read Ad Age this morning, as has become my habit to do just about every morning.

I especially love the “Small Agency Diary” articles because most of the things they talk about are experiences we’ve all had in the marketing world. It’s like my pals in Ad Age land have been spending time right here in our office.

But all I could think about as I read Derek Walker’s blog post this morning, “Who are you and why are you here?” was how would I answer that question?

It’s such a simple thing. A straightforward and direct request. Who are you? And now that I start to think about it, Derek is right in his point. You go to so many advertisers and marketers’ websites, and you get no idea about who they really are. What is their perspective and their raison d’etre? What do they think is their most powerful offering?

For goodness sakes, give us a little personality! I mean, as marketers we’re supposed to build brands and deliver messages for our clients. If we can’t tell you who we are and why we’re so special, how could you ever trust us with your own company’s image?

So with all of this reflection I digress. I take a step back to the MOS website and take a fresh look at how we represent ourselves as a company, as individuals, as creatives. And again I ask, Who am I? And why am I here?

Can Less Be More For Your Website?

01/24/2011 | admin

Websites are a delicate creature. You want to engage your customers but not overwhelm them. You want to give them information about your products or services but you don’t want to bore them with details. You want to make things easily accessible but not clutter your home page. Before you make changes to your current site here are a few ideas to keep in mind. Continue reading →

Must See – Funny Spoof on Death of Ad Agencies

12/30/2010 | admin

Thanks to FITC for this clever but eerily relevant sci-fi scenario of the death of the last ad agency on earth. The thing is – they pretty much hit the nail on the head. Many “creative firms” are scared to actually get creative any more. And that, my friends, may be the death of them.

Why? Because consumers’ media habits and access to that media are changing rapidly. We’re not the same captive audience that we used to be. If you’re familiar with the acronyms TiVo and DVR, or you’ve ever been exposed to a YouTube video, then my point has been made.

Effective marketing today has got to be about not doing the same old stuff. It’s got to be about STANDING OUT. We’ve been saying it for a long, long time. Still not convinced? Watch this video! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it’ll become a part of you.

2010 List of Growing Companies

12/20/2010 | admin

In 2010 many local organizations chose MOS Creative to help them increase their marketability. These companies are positioned for major growth in 2011.