I found this article, and thought it would be a good follow up to my blog about World Cup marketing. In this article, Barry Finkelstein (Vice President/Director of Public Relations of Erwin-Penland in Greenville, SC), talks about some valuable marketing lessons that we can learn from the World Cup.
By Katie Earley, Copywriter
It seems like the alcohol-industry consistently has some of my favorite ads. Here are some whiskey ones I found recently.
Great headlines on these Jameson print ads via Ask a Copywriter.
Lovely extended branding video for Johnnie Walker via American Copywriter.
by Susan Gosselin
Vest Director of PR
Used to be, when you put out television advertising, the only thing you ever had to worry about was cutting through the clutter and sales results. But in today’s world of mashups, youtube, fan art/fiction and media creation programs nearly anyone can use your intellectual property for their own. It’s something brand managers should really be thinking about as they create their campaigns.
Exhibit A: Esurance. Most of you recognize the perky pink haired cartoon spokesmodel for esurance, right? Well, apparently, the face that launched thousands of new insurance accounts launched something else the company didn’t intend: an army of amateur artists, film makers and cartoonists making x-rated art with her image. (the illustration above is a very, very tame rendition.) The problem was becoming so bad that Erin’s many doppelgangers were completely drowning out the company’s legitimate presence in the search results, and hijacking the company’s presence on the Internet. Who would have thought something like this could have happened even a few years ago? But, there are plenty of perverts out there with photoshop, animation software and video editing suites and plenty of time on their hands. I suppose no one should be surprised.
From a crisis management perspective, this is a classic example of when to cut bait. Happily, this is what Esurance has decided to do. No amount of indignant press releases or targeted lawsuits would have ever stamped out this brand infestation. It would have only served to bring more attention and search results to the cause. Since it’s just a brand character and not the company’s core product, they can afford to do this.
Poor Erin. Now that she’s been fired from her day job, she’ll have to go out onto the mean streets on her own. Sounds like the beginning of a comic book series, to me.
by Susan Gosselin,
Vest Director of PR
I love the TV show “Glee.” There. I said it. And I’d say it again.
As a former member of a (not nearly so good) high school show choir myself, I was more than a little ecstatic to find a funny, snarky and musically impeccable show to watch about this very familiar patch of high school angst. But the more I’ve fallen into the vast underworld of Glee fandom, the more I’ve come to realize that the show is phenom made possible, largely, because of its ground breaking social media marketing. Even NPR agrees.
By Katie Earley, Copywriter
Local commercials have a tendency to be a bad combination of boring and annoying, but thanks to Rhett and Link and their love of local commercials (Or really I guess it’s MircoBilt’s, their sponsor, love of small business and Rhett and Link’s love for video making? Read about that here.), the local commercial is getting a healthy dose of awesome.
They recently traveled to nearby Corydon, IN to make a commercial for Butt Drugs. I know this sounds like a joke, but it’s true! The evidence is below.
You can read about the details at the Courier-Journal and see the making-of video here.
A couple of my other Rhett and Link favorites: amazing stop-motion (not a commercial but still great) and a violent and awesome credit union commercial
By Katie Earley, Copywriter
I have long enjoyed the “I love the whole world” Discovery Channel commercial. They just give me that warm-fuzzy feelings that makes me want to cuddle on the couch with my husband and watch Mythbusters. I think it has to something to do with the “Boom de yada” because I love little sound refrains like that in songs. Any songs with some “la la”-ing is sure to be a hit with me. But anyways, I saw on The Denver Egotist that they’ve redone the spot with the same song and some new images. And I still love it.
boom de yada boom de yada boom de yada boom de yada…
By Katie Earley, Copywriter
The Copywriting Maven shared this funny video (which she found at B2B Marcom Mind) about the Enlightened Stupid Marketer. The creative genius behind this video, Nalts, used to work in marketing before devoting his life to internet comedy, so clearly he knows what he’s talking about. (more…)
By Katie Earley, Copywriter
I’m one of those people who watches the Super Bowl for the commercials. Not necessarily because advertising is my day job, but Super Bowl commercials are consistently more entertaining than anything else on TV on a Sunday night. One of my favorite Super Bowl commercials would have to be the E-Trade baby.
by Susan Gosselin, DIrector of P.R.
Could this be any cooler? Companies will pay you to have a party with their products at your house! House Party, Inc., takes personal product sampling to a new and surprisingly effective level.
