brandbreak!

It disgusts me to find sites that are blatant rip offs of well known designs.






They didn't even make an effort to disguise it. Although it was taken from a somewhat older Apple design, everything is the same from layout to color schema.

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BBDO New York, BBH, Ogilvy North America, VCU Brandcenter... what do we have in common?


The 2009 4A's O'Toole Creative Excellence Award.


Best portfolio school:





Check out the article

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Vermonters know how to celebrate. Ben & Jerry's will be selling Hubby Hubby ice cream to show their appreciation for the approval of gay marriage in Vermont.

Also, what an excellent opportunity to capitalize on an already high profile event. Ben & Jerry's has always been politically active and socially conscious, and it creates excellent PR for the company.

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People are furious about this WFF ad. It does everything an ad should do, but it's insensitive and shouldn't have been produced.

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Check this out

Google beware, they're making a deal to take you on. Yahoo's annual operating income will reported jump $500m.

THIS, is exciting.

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Are we really entering a new era of frugality? What does this mean for advertising? More importantly, what does this mean for me?

Adweek's article "Frugality is the New Black" made me begin thinking about it a little more seriously. But, people are not going to stop spending; they're going to spend their money differently.

If frugality is here to stay, how do we adapt? Premium brands need to be more than just brands. Although scary, brands need to embrace the concept of frugality in order for people to trust them. By carrying similar values to their customers, brands will be trusted.

Simple example: Consumers became more eco-minded; Toyota started mass producing hybrids.

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shhh, is that a?... ~gggggrrrrrmmmMMMmmmmMmMM~

WhhhhssssBAMM!

There goes another good squad. ZZZZZooooom! The helicopter is snapped in two.. but wait, ~heartwarming moment~

The Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines all share a presence in the movie Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, and guess what? It's not by chance. Along with the heavy number of GM products, the U.S. armed forces has started using more strategy beyond that of the battlefield.

While watching it, I was amazed at how much there was. I always thought the armed forces just happened to be in movies, but I did a quick search on Google to discover it was well thought out tactic for reaching American viewers.

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After sharing about www.elance.com, a fellow Brand Manager (1epiphanee) asked me the following question:

Hey Blake,

I have seen this site as well as others and the problem that I have are all the people who are competing at rates such as $5/hr because they are located in international locations. Any suggestions on how you you bid for jobs or determine a rate? Also what type of projects have you (or others you know) been most successful in getting from these type of sites.

Thank you!

My response:

Haha, unfortunately you're asking the same question that manufactures all over the U.S. are asking themselves. My answer: branding. The Brand YOU. Offer something the competition can't.

Have a great portfolio, and be sure to SHOW why you are a better choice. Just like in advertising, you can't just say it; it needs to be part of your brand.

Also, it helps significantly to show you have a specialty. You're not just another generic, and you don't need to undercharge.

Perhaps this will help some others as well. Good luck!


Addendum

1epiphanee says:

I guess like so many of the manufacturers I was hoping for a magic potion. I know about the branding of me, but that still doesn't make me wonder whether I will still be competitive or have speciality a potential client is willing to pay a fair yet premium rate compared to the overseas competition. This is the deeper aspect of the question I was asking. Are there clients on sites such as elance.com that value quality versus economy?

response:

I would say clients who are willing to pay a premium are definitely out there and on sites such as this. With over 25,000 jobs posted monthly, the difficulty is figuring out which clients are looking for it. The more creativity required or the more regionally focused the job is, the more likely the client is looking for good quality. For example, there's currently a job posted by someone looking for a new company name, and I imagine they want someone who understands the cultural nuances of the local area.

However, as I said before, if it is production work (not requiring much thought), the unfortunate truth is, we may not be able to out bid overseas competition. On the flip side, work that doesn't require much thought tends to be boring :-D

What are your thoughts on the whole situation?

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Unmotivated, Uninspired, Bored... this describes me at the beginning of this week. AFTER attending the Promax|BDA conference though, my mood feels like I went off a ski jump and flipped a few times.



The sessions were packed with insights and thought provoking content. Even though it was pretty cool meeting Tom Kelley, Bob Saget, Jonathan Block-Verk, and Mike Walsh, I probably got the most out hearing about ways of improving my presentation skills and sonic branding.

Did you know you can create spot sound? It's like a spotlight, but with sound. I was amazed. =D

Regard economics in advertising, it was also quite interesting to hear from Ali Velshi.


Also, I'll be posting links to a lot the commercials and examples from the conference on delicious.com/blakealicious.


Here's the list of sessions I went to:

• The Personal & Professional Impact of the Economic Meltdown in TV and Advertising


• Fear and Loathing in Creativity & Design (with Ralph Steadman)


• Obama for President: The Campaign that Changed Everything


• Big Idea 3.0: Redefining Creative and Media in a Digital Age


• Brand & Deliver


• The Art & Design of a Sonic Branding Strategy


• Futuretainment


• Write with Balls


• The Ten Faces of Innovation


• Life's a Pitch... Mastering the Art of Presenting

I also went to three awards presentations:
1. Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation: Robert Redford
2. State of Our Art
3. Marketing and Promotion Awards Show


If you have any questions about the conference, just let me know.

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A very cool site that enables you to securely share video with people, and track how they watch it.

Yet another impressive, yet fairly inexpensive tool. Check it out.

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I attempted to teach my grandma about the internet today... however, I neglected to think about the basics. First, I had to explain what a keyboard and mouse are, and how to turn on a computer. :-D

It served as an excellent reminder for me to always think about your audience and what they know. I need to occasionally ask myself, "am I too focused on what I want and forgetting more important details?"

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This article by Jack Neff indicates a return in companies’ spending on brandvertising. However, I would take it a step further and say this indicates an initial recovery in our economy, and THIS is something I’m looking forward to.

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The cruise I’m on is the epitome of experience marketing. I’ve never seen a more perfect and clever example of a company draining people’s wallets.

Tonight, I went to the opening performance that launched our vacation aboard the Ruby Princess. However, the show was simply a way for Princess to advertise its extra-cost services.

Although it was a rather cheesy performance, I admit, I had a bit of fun. With some entertainment mixed in, it started with crew introductions and finding out where our fellow passengers were from. Mike, the cruise Director, joked a bit and made everyone feel part of the Princess community.

Considering the broad range of passengers (3085 people from 43 different countries), they did an excellent job creating two critical aspects of branding.

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On the first day on my trip, I went to Venice and it was every bit as beautiful as I remember. EXCEPT, there was one not-so-minor difference. I wanted to show my parents the usual tourist attractions, but two of the places were… covered with ads!!!...

I couldn’t believe it. Really? Ads obstructing the wonderful Italian history and architecture of the Doges’ Palace? Ugh.

The Bridge of Sighs:



On the other hand, the ads are only temporary during restoration AND it’s an incredible media buy.

I’m torn between hate for covering up the architecture I wanted to see and love for brilliant media placement.

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I'm away for the next 3 weeks

Money makes the world go round!

So what better, than a way to monitor your personal finances. And, did someone say trends? I can use mint.com to check up on all of my bank accounts, without endangering them.

Slick. Secure. Smart.

I love it.

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This has gotta be the coolest thing I've seen in a while.



Logos that float! Logos that are eco-safe! Logos that stand out!

Check them out. I can't wait until I find a use for them.

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Mobility is inevitable. The Kindle, iPhone, smartphones, netbooks, etc. are just the tip of the iceberg, and in the next 10 years, I think we'll be diving into it head first.


In an interview, Russ McGuire (Sprint's futurist) paints an intriguing and attractive picture of how mobile technology might look in 2025.

He states that no application or technology is (currently) advanced as what he describes, and it will be a while before it gets there. However, I would argue that the technology, and applications of it, are just around the corner.

Soon, we'll all be running on wireless protocols like 3g, 4g, LTE and WiMax, and who knows what will come after that.

Mobile technology is a wide open market for businesses to latch onto, and really, what better time to do it? Especially here in the US, we need to jump start our technological innovation.

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Ok, so maybe Twitter isn't going to disappear, but I think it's going to plateau. This AdAge article, "Why Twitter's Reach is Limited" made me start to think.

As with Sylvester and Tweety, it's great for a while, but unless the content keeps changing, people will lose interest. Also, as similar services keep popping up, there's increasing less need for it.

A simple example: Facebook's revised method of content syndication.

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I don't know about the name, but the concept is good.


The ad points out bags last a long time, and this is a simple thing we can do to go green.

As advertisers, I think it's important we support the change to environmentally safe products.

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Come on Adidas, really?

Ford's logo could easily be replaced with any other. Will it sell? Probably not. But I'm sure it will get passed along.

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I discovered two sites that opened my eyes to two new visualizations.

First is Crazy Egg. Much like other tracking sites, it allows you to see the traffic on your site. However, this company has a unique twist on how you view it.

On this site, you can view it as a heat map.
I love it!



The second is called Cooliris.

Similar to Crazy Egg, Cooliris has a unique visual twist on traditional information/results.

The 3D effect is great!

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This is a video I'm sure many of you have seen, but in case you haven't, check it out.

It raises a lot of questions about what our future will be. I think we're on the verge of a significant change in every aspect of life.

What will our health care, education, advertising, manufacturing, or even government look like? Now businesses are going mostly online, who will their competitors be? Even if you start up a small business like a yarn or knitting store, you're competitors are not just the mom & pop shop down the road.

:-/

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Could Domino's die in 24 hours?

http://adage.com/article?article_id=136004

This article describes Domino's reaction as using a hose to put out a candle. They've ignited and exacerbated their own issues.

I think Domino's needs to take drastic action in the opposite direction. They need to make strong publicly visible steps toward improving their service / product.

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A bit about the track from my classmates:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKucac9MMRo


Don mentions bringing a new interactive twist into the advertising mix; a concept we definitely need to embrace for the future of advertising.

What's next?

This week I'm supposed to hear about internship opportunities. What will I be doing and where will I be this summer?

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Possibilities:

Dallas - J.C. Penney ( jcp.com )

Richmond - Big River Advertising ( bigriveradvertising.com )

New York - Pernod Ricard ( pernod-ricard-usa.com )

Out & about - Continue current work & develop new presentation software ( a possibility I'm still considering )


Regardless, I'd like to start my summer by seeing my family and traveling a bit. Woohoo!

A personal internet spy? I want one of those. Oh, wait... it already exists. Spy (http://spy.appspot.com) is an application that searches social networks and media, picking up on keywords that you search for. More importantly, it searches in REAL time.

This is only one of the crazy tools that I found while researching social media for a presentation next week.


Maybe tools like this don't look too exciting to you, but for me, these are damn sexy.

Can you imagine launching a new ad campaign for your brand and immediately seeing what people are saying about it?


Spy currently searches the following sites:

• Twitter
• FriendFeed
• Blog Comments
• Flickr
• Yahoo News
• Blogs
• Google Reader

The only downside is that it picks up posts multiple times. As a result, it can't be used for quantitative research, but it's perfect for qualitative brand tracking. I assume this is because of the search algorithm it uses. Try doing a search for Nike, Brandcenter, or Vermont, and see what you find.



Many people claim to know a lot about social and interactive media, but I've been working with and studying it for years, and I'm still discovering new things. Want to know more about social media in advertising?

Too bad, I don't give away everything I know. Hire me.