By Katie Earley, Copywriter
I’ve mentioned on our Twitter how much I’ve been enjoying the Sherwin Williams campaign made of paint chips. It’s visually stunning, and since selecting paint colors has been the drama of my personal life lately, it was love at first sight. I was glad to see the print version in this month’s Real Simple. Now I know what to do with all of my paint chips once I’ve (finally!) made a decision.
By Katie Earley, Copywriter
A lot of what I share here is inspired by other blogs. Here are some of my faves that focus on writing and editing.
Grammar Girl – My favorite super heroine. I always double check with her to make sure I’m right before I unleash my English-nerd fury.
Ask a Copywriter – Solving life’s problems with advertising.
After Deadline – Few things make me feel better about my own shortcomings than knowing NY Times journalists still mess up on subject-verb agreement and a bunch of other things. (Although I was disappointed by this week’s suggestion to avoid the word “brouhaha”. If we need more of any word in today’s journalism, it’s probably “brouhaha”.)
Writing Roads – Good advice on writing and/or life.
The Subversive Copy Editor – My most recent discovery. Love it!
Modern Copywriter – A collection of inspiring portfolio pieces.
Do you have any favorite writing blogs? I’d love to hear about them.
image: Foxtongue
By Katie Earley, Copywriter
(I give you cool points if you knew that this post’s title is from a VeggieTales song.)
I remember sitting in the car with my dad around the age of 16, and telling him about this awesome new CD-burning technology my friend had. Now we could share CDs! Perfect for the music-loving teen living on a limited allowance. Dad was not necessarily impressed by how this new tool could actually SAVE money, but replied that it sounded kind of illegal. Surprise! Dad was right! Again.
Fast forward 10 years and introduce social media, and the lines between sharing (Isn’t that what social media’s all about?!) and copyright infringement is even blurrier. I think in most cases though, there is an extent to which sharing needs to be embraced because it’s essentially free advertising. And even 14-year-old Katie knew that saving money was a great idea.
Example: OK Go’s “My ‘Friends’ Are Cooler Than Your ‘Friends’” Contest. Not only is their new video awesome, as they traditionally are, but it’s great how they are encouraging their fans to share the video: The fan who gets the most comments by sharing the video on Facebook wins an engraved iPad with the whole OK Go catalog.
By distributing their music video for free, they’re getting tons of free publicity to encourage fans to purchase their CD. Smart. They realize the truth of Jr. Asparagus’s motto: When you share, you get your share of friends.
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
Now THIS is what you can get when you put some money and strategy into social media. What Gatorade is doing here goes far beyond just monitoring and navel gazing. They are using the big money stars they were already paying to be in their ads, and using them as very interesting sports sources. They give you a peek into what it is really like to be a sports star, and bring their fans the dose of fantasy and reality that keeps them coming back for more. In many respects, they are occupying the same marketing space that Nike had just a few years ago. They are the sports performance experts. And how cool is that mission control? Thank you, Gatorade, for being a shining beacon, leading the way for the rest of us.
By Katie Earley, Copywriter
The Denver Egotist has traveled back 20 years today to 1990, which is highly entertaining. From their fancy “new” logo, to questioning if Photoshop will ever catch on, or reminding us of the first ads for cell phones, it’s definitely worth checking out.
by Susan Gosselin,
Vest Director of PR
David Gergen, advisor to many presidents democratic and republican, is one of the few pundits in the media that makes sense, in my opinion. This recent post from BNET, summarizing one of Gergen’s recent missives, shows just how level headed he is. No matter what your opinion on President Obama, I think most Americans agree they are not getting what they need from him in this crisis. Those of you who follow my blog will probably have heard me say that in a crisis, it is more important what you do than what you say. This is a key example. Because Obama is perceived not to be doing enough, anything he says gets called into question. I think Gergen has really nailed what the White House crisis response should be. It’s simple, direct, and genius. A great read for people interested in crisis communication.
By Katie Earley, Copywriter
When you’re trying to advertise something that doesn’t fall under the “polite dinner conversation” category, things get extra tricky. You need to be a combination of frank and compassionate, which tends to err on the side of being overly emotional and floral, with background music that would make Kenny G weep.
But recently pharmacy company EMD Serono, who specializes in fertility treatments, worked with ad agency Mono to make some web clips for their Increase Your Chances site. These “ads” seriously look at fertility problems, dealing with many of the misconceptions (That’s an unintended pun…promise.) about the issues, through the story of a bird and a bee. The conversations are serious, but the couple dressed up in as a bird and a bee brings just enough humor to make it personable.
Check out the web series on AdFreak.
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.
