How to write a great slogan

09/08/2010 | admin

Let’s go back to the basics in this post and start to rethink how we express ourselves to the world. Most companies have a slogan or a tag line that pretty much sums up what they offer, what they believe in, what they stand for, their guarantee or promise, or something along those lines. Ok, fair enough.

And we all know the benefit of a slogan – to remind people of SOMETHING about you. It’s your brand, short, sweet and to the point; it’s you in a nut shell. It’s what you want the consumer to remember about your brand. Got it.

But what separates a good slogan from a bad slogan? Well, my friend, all slogans were not created equal! What’s the difference between a few words strung together and a memorable tag line that can last for decades without losing any meaning?

It’s EMOTION.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not all about the hokey pokey. It’s actually all about emotion. That’s what makes something memorable. To use Al Ries’ example from his last Ad Age article (which, by the way, is so insightful, as usual), it’s one thing when you want to send a package overnight. But when it “absolutely, positively” has to get there, well you’re gonna use Fed Ex, now aren’t you?

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Video of the week: The Twit Network

08/16/2010 | admin

So we’ve all heard by now about the soon-to-be summer blockbuster, “The Social Network” – a movie about the making of Facebook. While it it sure to be riveting, word on the street is that a lot of it will only “loosely” be based on any true events. The story of one of the youngest self-made billionaires ever and the creator of a world-wide phenomenon is nothing to sneeze at, but I haven’t met anyone as of yet who’s planning to camp out for a midnight release. I mean, I enjoy hours of coding as much as anyone, but I’m more likely to spend two hours surfing Facebook than watching Facebook the Movie.

But what are we totally excited to spread the word about this week? The trailer for the OTHER social paradigm of our generation. A few guys called Indy Mogul created a hilarious spoof trailer for Twitter’s movie, called ‘The Twit Network.” Aptly self-described in the ‘Rated Awesome’ series, it is definitely a good one. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it’ll become a part of you.

It’s self-deprecating but so true at the same time, and will probably only make you love the Tweet even more. (It kind of reminds me of the “Jersey Shore” – such a ridiculous show full of ridiculous characters and inane drama and idiotic situations that I can’t get enough of it!) It’s sometimes amazing how the most wide-spread, popular, effective and successful tools, and in this case a marketing phenomenon, can spur from the simplest, and perhaps yes pointless of ideas. The best ideas and often the simplest.

Stop doing the same old, well, you know

08/03/2010 | admin

OK, so poop jokes aren’t exactly new, but we were trying to make a point here. The point being that marketing today is about really pushing the envelope. It’ s about not just getting creative, but about being getting people’s attention by being different – extreme and outlandish, even. Because if your marketing is none of these things I’ve just described, well then you’re just doing the same old s#!%.

The magazine ad that’s getting attention

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Why we’re throwing out the dirty “S” word

07/29/2010 | admin

Busy is good in our industry! It’s certainly better than the alternative. We tend to like a faster pace – we like it when things are going on, and we like to have projects. Most of us would say that we even work better under the pressure of deadlines and crunch time. But what happens when you just have too many things in the queue and not enough days in the week to get them done? As they say, something’s gotta give.

Don’t think of it as sacrificing. I know that sacrifice is kind of a dirty word in our field. I mean, who really wants to sacrifice? The idea of a forfeit or a loss of ANYTHING is NOT appetizing. Our clients want to get everything, get it quickly, and for cheap. Now WE know that’s not happening. And we want to be able to deliver quality, quickly, and for every client at the same time. The idea of having to sacrifice one of these elements seems like suffering. So no, it’s not sacrificing. It’s more like… prioritizing.

Have you ever hear the old line: “Good, fast or cheap – pick two.” It’s a little bit hokey, but it’s so true. Continue reading →

Printed books (sales) are so last century

07/20/2010 | admin

Are things looking grim for the publishing industry? Well, it’s all a matter of how you look at it. Technically, people are still reading books. That’s for certain. Just look at the incredible popularity of Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes and Noble’s Nook. They’re undeniable successes by any account. Amazon posted that its e-book sales increased by 163 % in May, a year-to-date increase of a whopping 207%. So see, we’re still reading. Who ever said Americans are getting dumber? (Yeah, I probably come back to eat those words later!)

So then why would the printing industry be concerned? It’s an interesting conundrum, really, when you look at the numbers. Yes, the written word is still as popular as ever, but in a different format. It seems that e-book sales are way out-pacing those of their more tactile cousins – the traditional print version. Amazon claims that e-books have outsold print books by 43% over the last three months. Wowza, that’s a lot of downloading!

Why are the high-tech titles selling like hot cakes? Well, there are a few perks. E-books tend to be cheaper for us consumers than buying the book in the flesh – although some would argue that the production price is still surprisingly high despite a lack of physical nature. What does “cheaper” really mean? Well let’s play devil’s advocate here and look at the list price for, say, “Breaking Dawn,” the fourth book in the Twilight sage (not that I’m condoning people actually reading the Twilight saga!) Cover price may be $14.99, but who every pays the list price? You can get a paperback edition for $8.99, which in this case is actually less than the kindle copy at $10.99. Continue reading →

Thinking outside the billboard

06/02/2010 | admin

We make a point to work with as many non-for-profit organizations and charities as we can because we believe it’s important to give back to the community that has enabled you to succeed. From building Web site to designing fliers and collateral, to helping host events, we really enjoy running the campaigns that help fund a good cause.

When we heard about a text message and online donation campaign that an Austin, Texas-based marketing agency ran to raise money for a homeless family, we were impressed. Not just by the cause, but in the creative, and perhaps death defying way they pulled it off.

Marketing firm T3 was brainstorming of ways to help its client, a local mission that provides food and clothing to the homeless and working poor. After setting up a text message donation platform for the organization, the creative firm decided that they’d either go big or go home. Continue reading →

The Law of Persuasion

03/17/2010 | admin

By Brian Tracy

The purpose of the selling process is to convince customers that they will be better off with the product or service than they would be with the money necessary to buy the product. When you make sales presentations, you are asking customers to engage in a trade.

You are telling customers that if they give you their money, you will give them a product or service in return that will be of greater value to them than the money they pay. In addition, it will be of greater value than anything else that they could buy with the same amount of money at the same time.

Satisfied Needs
The customer always acts to satisfy the greatest number of unmet needs, in the very best way, at the lowest possible price. A major part Continue reading →