I went back the recording studio today, to add some tracks for my demo reel. A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to play some (blues) harp (a.k.a. “harmonica”) with a couple of different groups. I quickly realized that (because you have to have a harp for the specific key the song is in – one harp is not gonna cut it), that I needed to buy some harps in other keys.
Playing harp is kind of a Zen thing – it’s both intuitive and counter-intuitive, deceptively simple on one level, and fiendishly difficult on another. Part of that has to do with the nature of the beast – half the notes you blow (exhale) and have the notes you ‘draw’ (inhale). The layout of the notes on a diatonic harp determines what kinds of sounds you can get out of them. And the whole key signature thing is a head trip, too…to get the notes you want in the right places for bending, you don’t play a harp tuned to the same key as the song (most of the time) – you play it in a fourth above. For instance, if you’re in the key of E, you want a harp tuned to the key of A. Read the rest of this entry »
The entire purpose of a brand is to encourage loyalty to your product. Products without brands are commodities. Loyalty is often the only reason that a consumer chooses one brand over another. Yet, loyalty is one of those ephemeral things that few marketers really understand. That’s largely because there are different kinds of loyalty, and it’s often not understood how that applies to marketing.
Family loyalty - When you’ll do something for someone not because you like them, but because you’re related, that’s family loyalty. This is something of an unattainably holy grail in marketing, reflected by companies that use folksy pitches and appeals that can border on guilt. Read the rest of this entry »
Way down the economic ladder from million-dollar roll-outs, focus groups, and psychographic marketing is the area populated by guerrilla marketers who fly by the seats of their khakis and use their gut as a compass. This is area of marketing where any and every mistake can be your last, because you’re bettin’ the farm with every move you make. Down here, you have to live and breath “innovation,” “clever,” and “bold,” because you don’t have the budget to do things the way you can when you have huge budgets and an enormous staff at your beckon call.
This past week, I was asked to design a new publication – a newsprint weekly magazine. Now I’ve done a fair amount of design in this area throughout my career. Ideally, I like the time to do some sketching, try some sample layouts, pick typefaces, and see what works. That kind of thing was a luxury the backers of this publication couldn’t afford. They needed it within three days(!), and simply couldn’t wait for things like focus groups and prototypes. Read the rest of this entry »
I love advertising icons. And I collect them. Seriously. My office has an ever-growing collection of advertising icons, from PVC figurines of Mr. Peanut and Toucan Sam (Froot Loops) and Snap, Crackle, & Pop bobble heads, to plush figures of Tony the Tiger and the Taco Bell Chihuahua. If it’s an ad icon, I either have it – or want it.
I got to thinking about that the other day, when a friend saw my office for the first time, and commented on the collection. Why do I love advertising icons so much? After thinking about it for a while, I’ve come up with some reasons why I do – and why I’m not alone in this. Read the rest of this entry »
For the past three days, I’ve been feverishly working on the design and layout of a new weekly magazine.
That I am excercising my design chops is not noteworthy. But as to the why I’m doing it, oddly enough, is.
I was approached by someone here in Amarillo, to help them with taking some raw artwork and source materials and converting them to ads. This person had been approached to create a local news and opinion magazine (with a conservative voice), and needed help, with a deadline looming. Read the rest of this entry »
When the ‘net hit critical mass, email was the biggest thing to hit marketing since third-class postage. Suddenly, you could reach millions of people for next-to-nothing. It was huge! Amazing! And then, the spammers killed the golden goose.
I remember when I received my first piece of spam.
I was incensed. Outraged. And I protested – to the sender, to my ISP, to the company that sent the mail – to everybody I could think of. And of course it dies absolutely no good. Because, believe it or not, spam actually works. Sort of. It’s a numbers game. Send out a million pieces of unsolicited crap, and some idiot, somewhere will respond. Since it cost you all of about a buck ninety-five to send it, get a couple of dozen people to respond, and you’re makin’ some real money. Who cares that you have essentially killed a valuable tool for communications and marketing. Read the rest of this entry »
Fly a lot? I used to, in the pre-9/11 world. I don’t any more. It’s a combination of a change in needs, and the royal pain in the Alice B. Tookas that flying has become. I can’t imagine it being more of a hassle unless they were to implement a mandatory strip/body cavity search. (And I hope I’m not putting THAT out in the universe.) So I certainly sympathize with marketers who are charged with trying to convince us (or con us, depending on your level of cynicism) that it’s fun to fly.
As I sit here in my loney artist’s/writer’s garret, typing away as I expound on maters with a marketing bent, it occurs to me I might have need to say a few words about the very serious subject of rational thought.
This was prompted by a reply to yesterday’s post, where your humble correspondent was taken to task by someone who chose to respond with slogans and things he’d obviously heard – as opposed to things he’d studied, considered, and investigated.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a skeptic. On everything. I like what President Ronald Regan said – “Trust, but verify” – and I apply that to my daily life. I think it is prudent to take everything you hear, see, and expereience, with a critical eye. In this age of media maniuplation, it’s easy to forget that everybody has an agenda – but not everyone is up front about it. Read the rest of this entry »
Do you love to be entertained? I do. Do you love to be lectured to? I don’t, and I’ll wager you don’t either. As a teacher, I learned long ago about the spoonful of sugar method, and how a little bit of entertainment made teaching the hard, boring stuff easier. Like most people, I enjoy watching a little television. Unlike most people, I watch shows with a critical eye. When you do that today, however, you might discover that all is not what it seems to be. Read the rest of this entry »
As Television advertising begins to deal with the pardigm shift caused by DVR (Tivo) technology, advertisers are getting a little more creative. Concepts like ad synergies between TV ads and website ads, and entire campaigns focused on the web (using TV ads as a way to drive traffic to the ad campaign online) were once considered edgy and avant garde. Not any more. Getting traction today is even more difficult than it was in the pre-Internet age. Read the rest of this entry »
I went back the recording studio today, to add some tracks for my demo reel. A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to play some (blues) harp (a.k.a. “harmonica”) with a couple of different groups. I quickly realized that (because you have to have a harp for the specific key the song is in – one harp is not gonna cut it), that I needed to buy some harps in other keys. 
The entire purpose of a brand is to encourage loyalty to your product. Products without brands are commodities. Loyalty is often the only reason that a consumer chooses one brand over another. Yet, loyalty is one of those ephemeral things that few marketers really understand. That’s largely because there are different kinds of loyalty, and it’s often not understood how that applies to marketing.
When the ‘net hit critical mass, email was the biggest thing to hit marketing since third-class postage. Suddenly, you could reach millions of people for next-to-nothing. It was huge! Amazing! And then, the spammers killed the golden goose. 
As I sit here in my loney artist’s/writer’s garret, typing away as I expound on maters with a marketing bent, it occurs to me I might have need to say a few words about the very serious subject of rational thought.
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