Archive for October 29th, 2008

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 »