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HELLO ALL!! WE HAVE UPDATED OUR SITES, AND THEREFORE ARE NOW CALLED:
OFFSET MEDIA!!!
I unfortunately can not update my username on this, so check out my new account: http://offsetmedia.livejournal.com
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After nearly eleven years writing ad copy for practically every product category under the sun, I should have known better. I’m one of the guys who sold consumers on the environmental benefits of driving an SUV back in the days before we learned “An Inconvenient Truth.” You’ve seen the commercials. While there wasn’t time to mention MPG or carbon emissions in these thirty-second fantasies, the environmental message managed to get across. COUCH POV: a gas-guzzling tank trucking through the purple mountains majesty, spewing invisible toxic exhaust in its wake. You could practically see the golden aspens wilt as the SUV passed - delivering its occupants to their next everyday adventure (white water kayaking, base jumping from the Grand Canyon, a day of mountain climbing followed by a night of clubbing with international celebrities). Oh, the dirty secrets I’ve hidden beneath my pretty words! Which is why I REALLY should have known better than to be duped by the promise-laced copy of practically every online real estate estate ad I’ve ever read. These one-page fictions, complete with chocolate-frosted stills of every room, easily transform a rundown bungalow into a mansion worthy of Bill Gates. In this foreclosed market, there are ten times the number of houses on the market as buyers in search of them. Now that the offending mortgage companies have been exposed, only a handful of those people willing to risk a purchase in this economy actually qualify for a loan. Consequently, there are.................... Current Mood:
 complacent
NBC Universal’s unprecedented multi-platform coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics, like its successful multi billion dollar bidding to cover future summer and winter games, offer a fairly clear glimpse of media’s transition toward full multi-platform convergence. NBC’s Olympics rights include broadcast, cable, Internet, video-on-demand, pay-per-view, and other services. The International Olympic Committee’s preference for NBC is not limited to the financial attractiveness of NBC Universal’s bids. The IOC cites NBC as “obviously” the “best choice in terms of the audience, the platforms, (and) the reach ….” Before and following its merger with Universal, NBC adeptly honed a multi-media presence after having smartly added......... I recently came across these ads for Manix, a French based condom company. Now, I know that European culture is more accepting of edgier and sexy advertising, but these are just wrong. I have no problem with the people being completely naked. It’s the glowing beams of light streaming from their crotches and the part where the couples are fused into a two-legged, double torsoed sex creature I have the issue with. This ad in no way entices me to buy their product. I don’t want any part of sex that melts my partner and I together at the pelvis, but that could be just me. I get it, it’s so close it melts you into one being. But isn’t this visual solution just a little too obvious? What do you guys think? Funny and innovative? Or weird and off the mark? Current Mood:
 chipper I went on a course recently where the speakers were all incredibly well-established editors from the BBC, The Guardian, Channel 4 news (very highbrow) and the Daily Mail. The course was for us PRs from the charitable sector to learn the best ways to pitch news stories to editors. Each editor spoke about the best way they felt to pitch. Each had their own variations but the main consensus was that none of them would ever open a press release unless they had heard of the organization - and that they knew the author was a good source. As for the phone, forget it. Having spent the earlier part of my career in......................... Current Mood:
 bouncy I don’t know what channel it is that I like to watch that seems to play the new Chemistry.com commercial every other 30 seconds, but I can’t stand it. However, I shrugged it off. Until about 10 minutes ago when my CD sent the link to the TV spot on YouTube (to hear the voiceover for a commercial of ours, not to hawk Chemistry). The sounds of hearing that commercial play several times through the office - with the stupid beatboxing line - I almost lost it. So what better way to vent my aggression than by posting my dislike for all to see. Of course, I’m sharing the video for those fortunate enough to have not seen this yet. If you don’t like it… I won’t say I told you so. Current Mood:
bouncyAs Miller Lite returns to its ho-hum tagline — “Great taste, less filling” — category leader Bud Light continues to kick ass with commercials that tap into the beer drinker’s mindset. In the latest spot “Swear Jar”, DDB Chicago adds a new spot that shows what people will do for a Bud Light. It’s funny, memorable and simply brilliant. For some reason, people at MillerCoors continue to believe that choosing a light beer is a rational decision. As if guys belly up to the bar and perform taste tests of which beverage delivers the right essence of hops and barley, or whatever. Makes me wonder if the marketing folks over at MillerCoors ever spend any time sharing a six-pack with friends and neighbors. Beer drinking isn’t about complementing a five-course meal at a fancy establishment. Beer drinking is all about getting alcohol in your body. Why? Because alcohol makes you feel better. So if you’re beer’s image makes you smile before you even take the first sip, then your brand is head and shoulders above the others. Sure, taste matters. But in a category where most can’t discern one brand from another in a blind taste test, image is more important. The “Taste Great! Less Filling” commercials of the past were a smart way to introduce a new category to consumers. But this market is now mature. We all know that light beer can taste good. So why hasn’t Miller Lite moved on? Current Mood:
bouncy
I received a comment on my last post, and it made a lot of sense. And I thought, instead of addressing the comment directly, I would address it in my next post. Here's the comment in its entirety.
I completely agree that writing is critical for online marketing success; in order to get more traffic of good intent to your site vs your competitors' sites. And I agree that one of the first things that even a small business should do is dedicate resources to writing on the web. However, I do not agree that this person needs to be a specialized writer. Isn't writing a basic..........
FOR MORE VISIT: WWW.SEOSHOOTOUT.COM
Current Mood:
chipper
Her name is Emily.
TO WATCH THE VIDEO VISIT: WWW.DIGITALPIVOT.COM
Current Mood:
cheerful
Interviewer Etiquette: It seems redundant to a degree, but I have noticed that over the past ten years it is sorely absent from the advertising scene. What was Personnel has now become Human Resources and we're all nothing more than a commodity to be pulled from the ground like minerals that are covered in dirt and mined out of the ground. If we creatives are perceived to be at a strata that others walk upon, it is not a good start to begin with. What was the human science of evaluating character, professionalism, qualifications and impressions has now disintegrated into buzz word synchronization, pursuing every flawed and faulty formulaic approach in pursuit of faux shortcuts instead of doing the hard work of getting to know who is interviewing for a job. Remember when "gut instinct" went a long way in the decision making process? I think it died just after common sense and customer service as a result of attitude - the signature brand positioning and mood of the lazy and the ignorant. This presents an especially big problem for creative people because the worst person we can have evaluating us is a non-creative. They don't get it, never have and never will. No matter how many times we tell HR types what to look for, what to ask candidates for and what to talk about, they get all pissed off. I've actually had an HR person say to me after they sent me a completely...........
FOR MORE VISIT: WWW.12POINTTYPE.COM
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cheerful
Hello, my name is Cassie and i'm a work-a-holic. Today we as individuals are spread very thin. Between work, relationships, family and other obligations; perhaps even continued education, it often becomes necessary to choose between obligations. Every industry requires a degree of dedication. It is dependant upon each individual to determine which level of dedication they are willing, or able, to dedicate to a career. There are many individuals, similar to myself, who find a comfort in hard work and find that life becomes less complicated when one allows himself or herself to be engulfed in project after project rather than exploring other facets of life. At sixteen years of age I worked two jobs. At the time it was a necessity to help my family with expenses. My mom was a single mother, and the town that we lived in maintained a population of 250 people; not exactly a metropolis, and not a very impressive job market. A tight-budgeted childhood led me to understand not only the rewards of work, but the necessity. I found that employers were inspired by my drive to work and when I went away to college I had no trouble finding work. However, I found in time that work was all that I knew, and in a way, that it was my only comfort. I was using work to hide from my life. I was working 45 hours a week, taking 18 credits at the university, working at the school newspaper as a senior reporter, and working with the student government as a marketing director. I was in over my head. You may be asking yourself what any of this has to do with PR. Well, let me explain. Public relations is one of those careers that requires a very high level.............
FOR MORE VISIT: WWW.FLACKME.COM
Current Mood:
chipper
There was a time when I adored pretty much anything that came out of Crispin Porter + Bogusky, but as of late, I've been consistently on the fence with what I see - especially with Burger King. I chuckled the first time I saw the "Motel" commercial with a man slunk behind a bed indulging in his Cheesy Bacon Tendercrisp sandwich and drink when an angry cow busts in the door in anger. I even laughed when the cow pushed a guy over a cliff in "Make Out Point." So I get it. I understand that the cow feels betrayed. I can't decide if this is like a cheap rip off of Chick-Fil-A's "Eat Mor Chikin" stuff (in the opposite way of course) or is truly a good ad. I mean, hey, I guess it works. Does it make you want the Cheesy Bacon Tendercrisp?........
TO WATCH THE FUNNY VIDEO VISIT: WWW.BEYONDMADISONAVENUE.COM Current Mood:
chipperFor a business built on creativity, agency thinking can be pretty uncreative; we staff up when we win business and staff down when we lose it. Besides being an incredibly demoralizing process for everyone, this crazy job rollercoaster runs completely counter to the challenge of finding, hiring and nurturing creative talent. I recently read about an agency in Atlanta called the SuperGroup who came up with a much better — and much more creative — solution to layoffs. Instead of letting people go when business is slow, they encourage their creatives to pursue their own creative endeavors. Employees were told that as long as they made client work their top priority, they were free to work on personal creative projects during downtime. So what happened? Those "personal" projects have helped the agency do better work for their clients and win new business. When the agency was pitching an interactive website for the Weather Channel, it turned out that it was some original music written and produced by one of SuperGroup's employees that clinched the deal. This personalization of the creative process has also changed how the...........
FOR MORE VISIT: WWW.BENEATHTHEBRAND.COM
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cheerfulA guaranteed method to boosting your visibility on the web is by link building. When I say link building, I’m talking about quality link building. Anyone can chuck a handful of links at sites like del.icio.us or Yahoo Answers or Wikipedia, but those are typically sources of constant updating and offer only temporary traffic. To stand against time, you’ll need to invest time, and as the saying goes, “Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight.” The Basics In ‘There’s No Such Thing as a Worthless Link’, Debra Mastaler lists off a short set of guidelines by which she follows to build rank-influenced links: Current Mood:
cheerfulTypically, I am hard to impress. As a creative director, I always strive to make sure my client’s marketing image is top notch and that takes time and multiple revisions. It is the same situation with ad delivery platforms. Just how many flash embedded ad networks does it take before I start to roll my eyes? Maybe three, four if it is Christmas. A few weeks ago, I attended the SFBeta event in San Francisco and met Nik Bonaddio, the Creative Director of Spongecell. Guess what? He has another rich media ad solution but there was one simple thing that kept me from turning toward the bar to start swilling Anchor Steam - rich media ads that are............. Current Mood:
chipperListen to the company line, and everyone is singing the praises of teamwork. Stick around long enough and who gets promoted… superstars or team players? Talk about hidden agendas! Navigating them can be a full-time job. Say your supervisor demands loyalty but rarely gives you credit for the positive contributions you make. You can try to get noticed as an up-n-comer. But you may also get branded as cutthroat. In the meantime, your supervisor is fighting to get recognized by his/her superiors as an up-n-comer … without getting branded as disloyal. There’s always a fear that if you look too good, it’ll make your boss look unnecessary, especially when it’s time to downsize. So you drive slowly behind your leader… Current Mood:
 contemplativeSome of the most successful public relations professionals not only know how to communicate effectively, but also take care of themselves as well. Stress can be dangerous to health, mentally and physically, and it can influence your work negatively. Anything that distracts the brain from thinking about the cause of the stress allows your brain to rest and recuperate, thus relieving the stress. Below are my top 5 methods of relieving stress............... Current Mood:
cheerfulI’ve come and gone through the “back-to-school” part of my life and since I don’t have kids either, this stuff doesn’t really apply to me. However, I am a fan of Staples and their back-to-school ads. I mean, we all remember the “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” ad that ran for what felt like decades (and happens to be my personal favorite). Or even Alice Cooper’s uncanny cameo one year? Well, this year McCann Erikson carried the Easy Button out into the newest back-to-school spot. The ad makes me chuckle, mostly because it also takes into consideration the hot talking point of gas prices. Check it out … Current Mood:
contemplativeControversy comes in many forms but recently a billboard campaign by the fast casual restaurant franchisers, The Spicy Pickle, caught my eye that brought a special brand of controversy that I thought worthy of sharing with beneaththebrand.com. These billboards feature creatively spelled sayings like ‘Fud fors mahrt peah pal’ (Food for Smart People). Clearly, the boards are designed to capture extra-long looks as well as match the irreverent attitude of their brand. Is the controversy obvious yet? Well, it would be if you were driving in the car with me the first time I saw the billboards currently running in Denver along 6thAve. 6thAve is an old city street which has now expanded into a very busy highway & these billboards are in a location where the road is pretty darn curvy. I tried like heck to translate the misspelled words on the billboard as I was driving at 65 mph & nearly careened into the mini-van next to me while doing it. At first, I wondered why they would.................... Current Mood:
chipper
There's light at the end of the tunnel for marketers and publishers stressed over the potential drop of their page rankings due to Google's paid link penalty. An innovative new technology from LinkXL allows marketers to search content and purchase "DoFollow" or "NoFollow" text links. Pitched as "the next generation of text link advertising," these attribute tags allow marketers to organically grow their search engine rankings in a way that maintains continuity (not just the appearance of continuity) with the publisher's existing content. NoFollow prevents a hyperlink from influencing its target's ranking in the search engine index, essentially improving the quality of search results and heading spamdexing off at the pass. Links tagged as DoFollow are indexed as natural links - their value is passed directly to the search engine robot. To provide additional protection for the links...........
FOR MORE VISIT: WWW.SEOSHOOTOUT.COM
Current Mood:
cheerful |
