Tweet Good advertising ideas are grounded in truth. But truth isn’t always easy to find. Here’s a secret: the richest wellspring of truth at any client-side company is the Consumer Resources department. They’re the only department in the company that talks to consumers every day. And the only department whose [...]
Tweet In October 2001, I got a phone call. Combe Incorporated needed a freelance consultant who could create the company’s first-ever integrated TV/digital campaign. I knew I could handle digital. That’s all I had been doing for the past 5 years. But I hadn’t created a TV commercial in so [...]
Tweet It’s not easy to launch a new product when your competitor has a more than 150 year head start, and legend has it that King George IV declared it “A1″. Rational appeals, gorgeous food shots and feature/benefit advertising didn’t seem likely to persuade people to switch brands. Lea & [...]
Tweet Advertising in the office machines category is rarely interesting, unless you find images of beige boxes and smiling corporate drones to be compelling stuff. Our client, Mita, wasn’t the biggest copier and fax company. They needed something dramatic and unusual to help open the doors for their salespeople. So [...]
Tweet This direct marketing TV commercial I wrote helped AT&T earn a billion dollars in new receivables. You’d think this might make my client happy. But it accidentally set off a huge firestorm. The balance transfer program offer was stealing thousands of customers an hour from the big banks. Just [...]
Tweet The Just For Men campaign starring Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Keith Hernandez is the most successful advertising campaign in Combe’s 63-year history. The company was working with Clyde and Keith in PR, not in advertising. But my boss at the time, John Lerch, said “Try doing something with both guys [...]
Tweet I’ve been a fan of mashups since “A Night At The Hip-Hopera” by The Kleptones in 2004. It’s ideas colliding together and becoming something new yet oddly familiar. I’m nowhere near as good as the Kleptones but I enjoy mashing things up and remixing just to see what comes [...]
Tweet This is a mashup I put together using Audacity. The “Pray” vocal comes from an acapella CD release. The “Our Prayer” bit comes from the Freeform Reform Remix by London DJ Freeform Five, which was pressed on one-sided, clear 10″ vinyl, released only in Europe, and limited to 1,000 [...]
Tweet “Art comes from everywhere. It’s your response to your surroundings.” ~ Damien Hirst I’m strictly a point-and-shoot photographer; I haven’t invested in my first “real” camera yet. But I enjoy shooting, especially if a) I’m traveling or b) I can eat what I shoot. Here are some shots grabbed [...]