“What the headline giveth, the small print taketh away,” grumbles the old advertising cynic. Sad to say it’s true, even in this era of supposed transparency. Take the TV ads for FreeCreditReport.com. A young guy dressed like a pirate, singing (OK, lip-syncing) a catchy little tune about he’s stuck in this nowhere job because his […]
Category Archives: advertising
Can squiggles on a whiteboard define your company? Ask UPS.
Am I the only one who gets mesmerized by those ultra-simple UPS commercials? Apparently not, according to Slate’s Seth Stephenson, who gives a great behind-the-scenes look at those ads here. (You can watch the whole series of UPS spots here.) You can’t take your eyes off them. There’s something about all that white space, and […]
The missing ingredient in (most?) word-of-mouth
In yesterday’s post, I mentioned Andy Sernovitz of MarketingProfs and his list of ingredients found in good word-of-mouth marketing. Then I asked you to figure out what was missing from my list. (Note: It’s on Andy’s list, but I purposely omitted it to make a point.) The missing link is the same thing that causes […]
Marketing in a recession
I’m not saying this roller-coaster economy is a recession, mind you — although Bernanke now seems willing to consider it a possibility. Faced with hard times like these, what does a small business do about its marketing? How do you continue to attract customers and clients now, when it’s most important? Marketing gurus say, “Keep […]
Mortgage crisis? What mortgage crisis?
The mortgage market is in turmoil, thanks to the subprime fiasco. Millions of homeowners face foreclosure, mortgage lenders are losing billions, new loans are impossible to get — hey, wait a minute. If mortgage loans are so hard to get, why are Countrywide, Ditech and other big lenders still running TV ads every 5 minutes? […]
Shocker: "Botox" contains BOtulism TOXin
Another brand shoots itself in the foot. Botox, the popular anti-wrinkle drug, and its competitor, Myobloc, have both been officially linked to dangerous botulism symptoms. In a few cases, the symptoms were so bad that children given the drugs for muscle spasms have died, according to the Food & Drug Administration. This should not be […]
Where do you clean up a "dirty" brand? On the Internet!
Waste Management is not in the garbage-hauling business, thank you very much. It’s actually an environmental services company. That’s the brand-bending message contained in the $25-30 million a year the company spends on print and TV ads. To reinforce its message, the New York Times report, the ads highlight: “… the amount of energy it […]