September

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WHAT?? Who Doesn’t Want to Marry George Clooney?

2011 at 02:22 pm Posted by Sherri Sharp

This Norwegian DnB NOR bank ad is funny - and a little odd. I love the parody in the fact this woman wakes up to find herself married to George Clooney but isn't very excited about it all. Maybe the horse head has something to do with it? Anyways, it's good for a laugh - especially if you like George and the way he's able to make fun of himself out of character.

Posted in: Marketing Musings

June

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It’s Summer and Time For All The Brand-Aid Concerts and Festivals.

2011 at 02:41 pm Posted by Sherri Sharp

In case you missed it this week, Stephen Colbert did a hilarious takedown of corporate-sponsored summer indie-rock festivals -- by way of introducing his own summer music festival, StePhest Colbchella '011: Rock You Like a Thirst-Icane, brought to you by Dr Pepper.

Throughout the week, the StePhest Colbchella segment of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report" featured performances by Florence and the Machine, Bon Iver and Talib Kweli, plus a multi-part interview with Jack "The White Stripes" White.

Colbert complains about the summer's insufferable "half-naked, patchouli-soaked, white-guy-dreadlock festivals, like Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Coachella, Salmonella." (After a pause for laughter: "There are never enough Porta-Potties at Salmonella Fest.") He then says that in "fighting back" with his own summer-concert series, he realized that he needed to get the kind of "street cred" that the established festivals have. So he takes a cue from them:

"Kids won't show up unless it's gritty, unless it's real, unless it has authenticity. And there's only one way to get that: Corporate sponsorship! Woooooooooo! Crank up the cross-platform market penetration!"

Enjoy the montage of mainstream-marketer logos that have been slapped all over these "indie" festivals -- and be sure to play through to Colbert's analysis of the "sick lineup" of sponsors at Bonnaroo this year, including State Farm, Ford, Miller Lite and Wheat Thins: "That's what it's all about, baby! It's all about driving your well-insured minivan to have a diet lager with a tasty snack that's also a good source of fiber. Rock and roll."

Thanks to Simon Dumenco at Ad Age for posting.

Posted in: Marketing Musings

May

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Wisconsin PSA Campaign Shows How Foster Parents Can Turn A Child’s Upside Down World Right Side

2011 at 11:40 am Posted by Sherri Sharp

This PSA campaign rocks! The new campaign for Adoption Resources of Wisconsin's Foster Care Awareness Month from SERVE Marketing creatively and eloquently demonstrates how foster parents can rock a child's life by giving them a safe place to live.

The :60 examines the day in the life of a boy whose life is upside down because of the uncertainty in it. Of course, the spot has a happy ending with the by coming home to a loving foster family.

The campaign, called Turn Your Life Around, began in early April with 48 billboards donated by Outdoor Advertising Association of Wisconsin placed in key markets throughout Wisconsin showing an adult and child upside down with no copy. The next tactic was launched on April 20 with requests spreading throughout Facebook for users to flip their profile picture upside down, followed by the "reveal" to the billboards on May 2, where families were shown right-side-up and the copy "Turn a Life Around."

http://youtu.be/dKLpjoOg-lI

Posted in: Marketing Musings

February

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Super Bowl Predictions According To Ad Age and Brokaw Agency

2011 at 04:11 pm Posted by Sherri Sharp

According to Ad Age:

Almost two-thirds of Super Bowl viewers age 18-34 will be using a smartphone, while watching the game this Sunday.

• 59% will be sending emails or texts about the game.
• 18% will be checking out ads online from their phones.
• 18% will visit advertiser websites--including this infamous one.
• 32% will be posting comments about the game or the ads on a social network.

According to Cleveland-based ad agency Brokaw:

• 6% will make an inappropriate Ben Roethlisberger joke in front of mixed company.
• 45% will avoid that "mystery dip" by saying they're "stuffed," then secretly double-fist Cool Ranch in the corner.
• 21% will make small talk about the blizzard in Chicago to fill the uncomfortable silence following the new Go Daddy spot.
• 37% will be surprised and somewhat saddened to learn that another aging rock band isn't performing at this year's halftime show.

And there you have it.

Posted in: Marketing Musings

January

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Three Great Principles for Engaging Your Customer Today - Because They Really Don’t Trust Marketing

2011 at 11:24 am Posted by Sherri Sharp

While this article by Katya Andresen was directed toward toward marketing in the non-profit sector, these are three very applicable truths for marketing in today's communication overload environment.

1. People don’t trust marketers. They trust each other. Only 6% of people say they believe marketer’s claims, according to Forrester. I’m not sure who those last true believers are, but if you find them, send them an appeal saying you can save the world for $100. So whom do we trust? Each other. Nielsen says 90% of consumers trust recommendations from acquaintances. So what does this mean to you? It’s not enough for you to say your cause is worthy. Your credibility only goes so far. You need someone else to say your cause is worthy – especially online, where people are accustomed to looking to third parties to decide which actions to take. Feature ratings from charity watchdogs, quotes from community leaders, stories from beneficiaries of your programs and the endorsement of your biggest supporters. People are more likely to believe them than you.

2. Spray and pray marketing fails. Personal outreach prevails. Back in the era of mass advertising portrayed in the cable TV show Mad Men, people didn’t just have great clothes. They had an easier job. Everyone watched the same few TV stations or read Life magazine. You could spray out a generic message to everyone and pray someone would listen and buy. Ah, those were the days. Great dresses, cool cocktails and blanket messaging. Does anyone have a time machine handy? In an era of hundreds of channels, social media and message overload, targeting the general public is futile unless you have the budget of Coca-Cola. It’s also ineffective. People expect a more personalized experience when they interact with a brand, including yours. So don’t think “spray and pray” – think “concentrate and inundate.” Build small, passionate committed groups of supporters with the power to spread the word in various communities rather than focusing on one big faceless prospect file doomed to receive the same generic messaging.

3. Marketing monologues don’t work. Conversations do. Let’s review: Trust in marketers has given way to trust in each other. Mass communication has given way to masses of communicators. So people are listening to each other and talking to each other and forming their own communities. Where do you fit in? You’re just another party in communication with everyone else. You can’t simply be a marketer with a message. You need to be a marketer committed to conversation. Our role is not to talk at people but to engage with them, listen to them, and build a rapport and relationship around what mutually matters.

The bottom line? We used to crank out the self-serving copy, tell people to trust us and hit them for money. That era is over. Change your message, your messengers and your goals. This isn’t about extracting money from people. It’s about making great things happen – together.

Posted in: Marketing Musings

August

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Michigan Is The Toughest State In Which To Find A Job? Really?

2010 at 01:21 pm Posted by Sherri Sharp

In today's Grand Rapids Press email, Jackie Headapohl informs us that Michigan is the most difficult state in which to find a job, according to Juju.com's Job Search Difficulty Index for US States. Which, for all the folks that live and work in Michigan, we pretty much already knew that. Even if you're having a bad day, but you're AT WORK, AT YOUR DESK, you should probably be a little more grateful.

In Michigan, there are 8.24 job seekers for each available job. Nevada is the second-toughest place to find a job, with 6.90 unemployed people per job. Mississippi, Idaho and Kentucky round out the bottom five.

The best place to look for a job is Washington, D.C., where there is less than one unemployed person per available job. Virginia, Maryland, North Dakota and Nebraska complete the top five least competitive job markets.

The Index is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed workers in each state, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, by the number of jobs in Juju's index of millions of online jobs in the United States.

Posted in: Marketing Musings

June

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Four Lessons From Posh Real Estate Agents We Can All Use

2010 at 08:26 am Posted by Sherri Sharp

After having seen a few episodes of "Selling New York" on HGTV and drooling over some of the properties, this article by Rohit Bhargava at the Influential Marketing Blog caught my interest. He writes, "If you're not in the market for luxury real estate, there's a good chance you haven't seen the glossy brochures that Christie's Great Estates and Sotheby's International Realty produce for their multimillion-dollar listings. It is a shame that few of us do get to experience this world," writes Rohit Bhargava at the Influential Marketing Blog, "because when it comes to marketing there is a lot that anyone could learn from how luxury [real-estate agents] run their businesses."

Here are a few ways real-estate professionals excel:

• They leverage strong personal brands to build credibility. "Often," Bhargava says, "you see the story of the agent's career and how he or she made it to that point." Agents also discuss personal histories and interests—especially those they share in common with potential clients. "All of this," he continues, "is designed to give you a sense of who they are before you consider working with them."

• They know a thing or two about targeting their audience. If agents in the luxury real-estate market advertise in the wrong place, they know they'll only waste time with unqualified inquiries. "They don't care about reaching millions or even about reaching thousands," notes Bhargava. "They care about reaching the right dozen people, period."

• They create desire with lust-worthy photography. There's no such thing as an amateur snapshot in their marketing collateral: instead, houses are presented as nothing less than a venue for perfect domestic bliss. "The imagery sells the houses," he says, "and encourages you to dream."

The Po!nt: When looking for marketing inspiration, don't limit yourself—you'll find great ideas in what seem to be the most unlikely places.

Posted in: Marketing Musings

May

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Who Comes Up With This Stuff - Another Case In The Series of ????

2010 at 11:29 am Posted by Sherri Sharp

When I see ads like this, I like to pretend I'm on the client side and I'm listening to the creative director pitch me on the concept:

CD: We need a larger than life, toned young attractive man to embody our brand image. And, I mean the focus is on "body", you see?

ME: Uh, why does he look like he's forgotten where he put his car keys and he's late for a pool party?

CD: He's pensive - he's thinking about what an exciting time this is for his generation He's hot, he's a Foursquare mayor and he's got 679 Facebook friends. He OWNS it!!

ME: But we're trying to sell apparel and the majority of our budget is directed toward that product category.

CD: Think Crystal Cove Body Mist - He's going beyond the bluffs and canyons to see the natural beauty of Crystal Cove. It's the place where his spirit is free!!

ME: I appreciate your team wholeheartedly embracing the Hollister culture, but do we actually want people standing under hairy armpits?

CD: Fine, you don't want hair. We'll Photoshop it out.

ME: That's not my point.

CD: I don't expect you to get it. Do you want to see the preliminary recall research? Bring me that AE, what's her name.

Posted in: Marketing Musings

January

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Women-Owned Businesses: America’s New Job Creation Engine

2010 at 02:40 pm Posted by Sherri Sharp

For years women have typically been paid less than their male counterparts. Well, here's the retribution. I'm glad to be a part of this contributing community of business owners.

Mark Wolf writes in Forbes that female small business owners are expected to create millions of U.S. jobs while transforming the workplace environment. A remarkable trend is emerging in the U.S. job market--one that will greatly impact the workplace of tomorrow. Women are becoming the nation's job-creation engine, starting small businesses and stimulating new jobs at a rate that outdistances their male counterparts and disproportionately exceeds their current contribution to U.S. employment.

A newly published report by The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute projects that female-owned small businesses, now just 16% of total U.S. employment, will be responsible for creating one-third of the 15.3 million new jobs anticipated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics by 2018.Specifically, the Institute expects that women who own small businesses will create from 5 million to 5.5 million new jobs across the U.S. by 2018, and in the process transform the workplace of tomorrow into a far more inclusive, horizontally managed environment.This job growth projection is based on a rigorous analysis of converging factors, including the faster growth rate of female-owned vs. male-owned businesses; higher college graduation rates by women than men; and the predicted growth of industry sectors and occupations traditionally dominated by women. The projection also reflects the timely fact that female-owned businesses, more often self-funded than male-owned ones, are therefore less reliant on bank financing at a time when many say small business lending practices are more restricted.

So what will the working environment within these companies be like?

• Creating a positive working environment for all

• Creating opportunities for other people

• Giving employees reasons to feel better as part of the team

• Paying employees better

• Providing better health care for employees

Female small-business owners are also more externally focused than their male counterparts. They are more intensely concerned about:

• Keeping the customers they have

• Cultivating customers who appreciate what they do

• Meaningfully differentiating their businesses from their competitors

• Taking advantage of economic conditions

• Knowing what other small businesses are doing to improve, succeed or fail

In addition, female small-business owners are more open to taking advice and deriving valuable information from others. They are more open to:

• Seeking input from their employees

• Listening to their accountants, chief operating officers, chief financial officers and financial advisors

• Valuing the range of business information available to them from sources such as the Internet and professional associations

Finally, women are taking a longer-term view of their businesses, with a greater focus on:

• Having a succession plan in place

• Planning for retirement

• Having something to sell at retirement

In the aggregate, this deeply engaged, inclusive, horizontal and diligent female-led approach to business management can be expected to counteract the top-down, command-and-control style long practiced by the male-dominant business establishment. Over the next decade, it will have a profound impact on the U.S. economy as female small-business owners create more opportunity for employees to grow in their jobs, encourage others to start their own small businesses and inspire a greater commitment to superior customer service and retention.

Posted in: Marketing Musings

December

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The Agency Christmas Card. When Reality Meets Fantasy. Or not.

2009 at 11:45 am Posted by Sherri Sharp

Sure, I love Mad Men and if we had the staff the size of Sterling Cooper this might have been fun for Halloween. But, Denver-based agency Cultivator Advertising and Design Creative Director Monte Mead REALLY longs for the "glory" days of advertising. This is not a propped photoshoot - Cultivator's Christmas card was actually shot in his home. Merry Time Capsule everyone!

Posted in: Marketing Musings

June

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Since We’re Coming Up on a Holiday Weekend, I Can Dream Can’t I?

2009 at 01:55 pm Posted by Sherri Sharp

A while back, I read about Philly-based agency Gyro Worldwide changing their name to Quaker City Mercantile due to the fact they believe they “are a hybrid of 19th century mercantilism and 21st century brand artistry.” Wow. But today I read these “artists” are crafting something else – BEER and RUM!

We all know the ad industry as a whole is suffering from spending cuts, general client malaise about the economy and the unwritten rule that marketing is always the first thing to go. But I think these guys are onto something.

They have a series of books, they’re producing films, they have their own brand of rum – Sailor Jerry – and now they’re making beer. The agency took a major stake in New England's Narragansett Brewery. Of course being an ad agency, they have produced their own campaign including print collateral, surfboard and airplane banners, radio, TV and a line of apparel.

My first thought was “BRILLIANT! Our creative sessions could quadruple in fun and we can pay the vendors in beer!” Then, my thoughts shifted to who would actually want to work on the agency side versus playing with hops and sugarcane. Although it is summer and this sounds like a great way to diversify, I think we’ll just stick to reinventing the agency with shifting client needs. I’d be happy to discuss this over a cold one with you.

June

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Small Business – The Ultimate Balancing Act

2009 at 11:59 am Posted by Sherri Sharp

Do you know how the Flying Wallendas got started? The patriarch, Karl, answered an ad for a “hand balancer with courage”. Sometimes running a small service business seems like walking a tightrope straddling a giant bar. (And for someone that doesn’t like heights, that analogy is pretty scary.) A small business is, by definition, imbalanced. Because 80% of all small businesses (i.e. defined as businesses with under 100 employees) have fewer than 10 employees and as many as 50% have fewer than 4 employees.In most small businesses, the owner(s) usually sell, serve customers and do all the support work, creating an imbalance. It can be a struggle trying to determine what area of the business to focus on: sales, operations or support.

In an article by Chaitanya Sagar who writes a lot for American Express, he describes how to keep that balancing act in check.

• Create an On-Demand Model – find other companies who deliver similar services and establish a referral/reciprocal work agreement. It helps not only with cash flow, but with time and resource allocation.

• Hire the True Multi-Taskers – Especially in these times, it’s critical to have employees that can effectively handle more than one activity.

• Outsource Non-Core Activities – Find quality providers who want to and can understand your business and support you.

While the Wallendas didn’t use a safety net, it’s critical for small business to create their own utilizing smart practices.

Posted in: Marketing Musings

May

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It is Alive!

2009 at 03:55 pm Posted by Sherri Sharp

So. We're officially part of the blogosphere. Finally.

After having worked on launching our new blog for what seems like an eternity we have finally put the shoes on the cobbler's son. In being nominated to make our prolific first post, I wondered where to start. For nearly a week I struggled with the content and what I wanted any and all readers to come away with. And then it hit me - what do I say in any new business presentation where we’re in front of a group of people who know nothing about us? Well, we're Sharp. (Yes, I was born with an incredible last name for a girl who has wanted to be in advertising since I saw my first commercial at the ripe old age of 18 months.) But it's true - we are sharp-minded folks who truly do love creating solutions for clients.

I'll spare you all the marketing hoo-hah verbiage now. If you want to read ALL about our capabilities and what we can do for you, please visit the “Services” section.

This blog is all about sharing the latest, greatest, craziest, quickest, smartest and coolest stuff in the marketing and advertising world with you. Oh, and if you like wacky TV commercials, we love posting the domestic and international ones we find in our personal favorite blogs and RSS feeds.

We'll be blogging about great ideas we find that are appropriate for our customers, latest marketing trends, tons of social marketing information and other things that make us go “huh?” You'll meet some of our customers along the way - theirs are the stories that people relate to most. Seriously, how do you tell sweet little grandmothers they can only register for a contest one time at a client garden party?

Most of all, we want to hear from you. Leave comments anytime and all the time. Tell us if you're looking for something in particular. Your feedback is appreciated and encouraged. We may be the ones posting, but this blog is really for you. We're glad to have you on board.

Posted in: Marketing Musings