R&R Partners: Build the Brand, Protect the Brand » Advertising

‘New’ movie is another reminder to be original

Erik Drake, Account Supervisor — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:16:33 +0000

Can’t really explain why, but I’m angry about the new Karate Kid remake. You know, the one with Jackie Chan and Will Smith’s kid. Like I said, I can’t put my finger on exactly why. Maybe it’s because it makes an industry I love seem lazy. Or maybe it’s because the original had such a profound effect on my formative years. Hell, it could be that Jackie Chan as Mr. Miyagi just bugs me to no end. Like I said, I don’t know. But I know it just doesn’t feel right. And nine times out of 10 my gut is right.

What does a remake of a movie that is an American classic have to do with advertising? Movie remakes are usually horrible and ad remakes are equally as horrible. As advertising professionals, we strive to do something original. We challenge our clients to do breakthrough work. We want to be at the forefront of pop culture. And yet we repeatedly do the same things or allow our clients to settle and do what is safe and easy.
Recently, Zephrin Lasker at Ad Age challenged us to toss “best practices”. Lasker gives us four reasons why “best practices” aren’t best at all. At the core of the article is the idea that we need to be original. Doing the same old thing over and over does nothing to bring value to our clients. We don’t want mass chaos, so he does make the point that there always exists a set of standards and those standards should guide you, but to live by “best practices” is just more of the same.

I agree with Lasker and am kicking the “best practices” habit. It’s our job to challenge clients and give them the best work. So take those “best practices” and turn them on their ears. Create. Create. And create more. And when your client asks you for the “best practices” in any given situation, tell them they don’t exist because what they’re doing is brand spanking new, but that you do know it’s more Ralph Macchio than Jaden Smith.

The power of print

Lindsey Patterson, Senior Media Planner/Buyer — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:17:28 +0000

Growing up, my brother and I used to visit my mom at work (she was also in the ad industry). She would point us to the industrial-sized laundry hamper-looking bins filled with magazines and we would dig and dig until we walked out with a four-inch stack each. We would read for hours as she worked and come to think of it now, those were some good times.

As a print lover, there is nothing better than sitting down with a magazine and getting lost in the pages. Whether curled up on the couch, lounging on the beach or in an office, there is something so satisfying about the temporary escape.

Print has gotten a bad rap lately with the explosion of technology, social media, etc. Critics have said that print will die with time, but nothing seems to be further from the truth when you look at the numbers. To get the word out about print’s true influence, some of the publishing powerhouses created a moving campaign called Magazines, The Power of Print. Backed by Hearst; Meredith; Time, Inc.; Condé Nast; and Wenner Media, this national campaign is running across a variety of print titles as well as online. Check out the website www.powerofmagazines.com to learn more, as well as to see their creative below.

Test your print knowledge: Can you identify the eight print titles used to create their logo? Give up? E-mail me at lindsey.patterson@rrpartners.com

Brand New Television for VisitLasVegas.com

Sean Corbett, Corporate Director of Digital Marketing — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:09:38 +0000

A woman creates a fake holiday celebrating the origin of wine as an excuse to skip a workout session to enjoy dining in Vegas. Find hundreds of reasons to escape to Vegas at VisitLasVegas.com.

Trust and Reputation – Celebrities and Corporate Leaders

Matt Silverman, Managing Director-Arizona — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:13:15 +0000

There’s a reason Visa chose Morgan Freeman to voice over its TV commercials: He’s one of the most trusted celebrities in America.

A new survey out from e-poll research lists the top-10 most trusted celebrities. And there’s more detail about it on Forbes.com

The list includes James Earl Jones, Tom Hanks, Bill Cosby and even Mike Rowe, the host of Dirty Jobs (which is why he’s probably seen hawking Ford products)

America’s largest companies pay those celebs handsomely, hoping the trust they’ve earned in America will rub off and validate their brand too. Most of the actors on the list have spent decades in the public eye, often advocating for causes as well as their movies, while also avoiding public transgressions. Meaning, they earned it from a skeptical America.

So much of what we do in advertising, public relations and more importantly – in life – is about earning a reputation built on trust and credibility.

For these spokespeople and the companies it’s a business deal, but in your personal business, where do you stand on trust and credibility?

It’s certainluy an issue Toyota is wrestling with today and so many are watching them closely.

It’s my firm belief that organizations and their leaders earn reputations every day through their actions, by how they respond to critics, take care of their customers, and how they respond to both opportunity and failure.

For those companies who can’t afford a celebrity on the A-list (which is most companies) start by making sure your corporate behavior and leaders are worthy of being on your customer’s a-list of trust and admiration.

What Color is Your Brand?

Matt Silverman, Managing Director-Arizona — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:40:06 +0000

The use of color to denote and reinforce brand is not new but a recent Sprint TV commercial reminds me that this tactic is still strong. Recently, Sprint has been featuring TV spots that obviously play on its yellow and black brand colors. As you’ll see in this TV spot, and other new ones, the actors’ clothes and products are highlighted in yellow and black. Same as the Sprint logo.

Getting consumers to connect your brand through color is one simple way to cut through the clutter and be more visibly identifiable. With the thousands of messages consumers receive every week, using color is one way to help your brand stick and to get your product, logo, packaging, advertisement to connect in the consumer’s mind.

Not that color alone makes a brand effective. Smarter folks than I have long said that brand is the emotional connection between your product and the consumer.

But the history of strong brands is full of strong color connections.

Coke is arguably the most famous, with the use of what has long been called Coke Red. And UPS took brown (what some may have seen as a negative) and leveraged the color in its “What can Brown do for you?” campaign to signify a long list of positive service attributes.

Naturally, brand color needs to be carried consistently through every touch-point and this Smashing magazine article looks at who’s doing it well online.

Folks who study color and even music have long discussed how those attributes make long-lasting emotional connections in our minds. And no matter how sophisticated our technology gets, those attributes should never be discarded or underestimated in advertising.

Social Marketing News 1/19/10

Rachelle Houle-Maisner, Interactive Producer — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:00:30 +0000

What will Google and Apple go head-to-head on next? I think it’s going to be geographically sensitive ads. Apple submitted a patent which details how the iPhone could potentially pick up location-aware ads and apps for immediate and automatic download. Google was awarded a patent which teases real-time digital ads overlain on billboards and signs seen from Google Maps street view. It’s really interesting that news of these patents got picked up by the media in the same week.

Another thought to ponder is what does local, on-the-go mobile advertising mean for the likes of Yelp, Foursquare and Gowalla? Will one of these location-based social networking portals discover a new revenue model in location-based advertising? Maybe, maybe not. Leave a comment and tell me what you think. Each day, we’re moving closer to having our digital content on any screen, at any time, at any place. Marketers need to keep that in mind.

Many bloggers and industry analysts have pointed to how our society uses social media in a time of crisis. Haiti, of course, has seen a huge reaction in social media- the devastating loss and suffering has touched people from around the world. Like most people, I’m sure, I first heard of the news through my social media channels. And through social media, the Red Cross has raised an astounding $5 Million towards their rescue effort in Haiti. Below is a special section about the reaction to Haiti in social media.

Friday/Saturday inspiration

Arnie DiGeorge, Executive Creative Director — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 07:36:54 +0000

It’s that time again. Here is what we talked about at this week’s creative meeting.

The Freakiest Commericials

New Magazine – I hope this one makes it, don’t you?

Mistletoe – Did this fool anyone?

Twitter Scale – Will this help you lose those holiday pounds?

Advertising Reality Show – Why such a small agency?

Cheap and Low Overhead – Is this the right answer for a brand?

Facebook is Making Lots of Money. Can Twitter do this?

Happy Moisturizer – Smooth legs are like a drug.

The Mold Creatures – Creepy cute.

Adidas Style Lesson

The Copenhagen Wheel – Will it catch on?

Target’s Blue Christmas – What do you think of Target’s new campaign?

That’s it for this week. Until next.

R&R Partners: Build the Brand, Protect the Brand » Advertising

‘New’ movie is another reminder to be original

The power of print

Brand New Television for VisitLasVegas.com

Trust and Reputation – Celebrities and Corporate Leaders

What Color is Your Brand?

Social Marketing News 1/19/10

Haiti & Social Media

Mashable

Tech Crunch

Fast Company

Channel Web

Yahoo! News

Read Write Web

Blogs and Other News Sources

Friday/Saturday inspiration