Photo Credit: Photo Bucket

I am reading a great book by Second Wind Training, called “The Complete Guide to Account Service.” The book is about how to train your staff, how to retain valuable accounts, and how to encourage clients to be more open to agency service. My favorite take-away from the book so far, is how the book outlines the importance of the client and agency relationship – and how to make this a successful one.

My favorite section of the book (Chapter 2) asks a very simple question – but one that is asked often. “Why should you use an advertising agency?” As an agency employee, and a huge marketing advocate this is an obvious question to me. My immediate response is “why wouldn’t you use an advertising agency?”

Ultimately, an agency should be viewed as a partner – YOUR partner. Not as a vendor, or as an “outside company” that charges commissions and reduces your bottom line. Your agency helps your bottom line – and should never be viewed as a vendor. A good agency works with you to ensure that your product or service gets marketed correctly to the public and has value. A good agency just plain “gets it.”

Good agencies must show personal interest in their accounts, must be timely in getting back to a client, and must exceed the client’s expectations (Second Wind). And as I mentioned above, since this is a partnership, clients must have acceptable expectations and full-trust in their agency. As a client, you are paying the agency to make recommendations and make decisions that are in your best interest… trust them! Use them as a resource. Consider them your best friend – the ones that help you look good and have your best interests in mind. Most importantly, clients must believe in advertising, and must see the value in hiring an agency.

Agencies, on the other hand must go the extra mile for their clients, and really work to fully immerse themselves in the client’s industries, competitors, and product mix. A partnership implies a mutual benefit. Agencies and clients need to work together, have understanding and set reasonable goals, expectations and criteria for each other. This healthy relationship will allow both to be more profitable - and more than likely, have a better end product.

I welcome all comments, and am curious to hear your thoughts!

- Samantha Tucceri

Ad Age has a great blog on their website, Small Agency Diary: http://adage.com/smallagency/

It’s full of great stuff written from the perspective of managing an agency in the under 100 employees size, which is something I can relate a lot more to than the latest profit reports from WPP Group or what’s going on with the Bud Lite review. If you’re in the small- to mid-size agency business, check it out.

- Chris Duval

I’m having an increasing number of conversations that involve what I call the brand “chicken or the egg” question:

“Do I need to change my brand or can I jump into the execution of new or different print ads, direct mail, website, collateral, and the like and make it work?”

I hear this question again and again from companies with a brand (or a sales process, or a 1:1 campaign, etc.) that doesn’t seem to “work”.

I don’t have an easy answer. While I am in the business of branding, I don’t recommend a brand overhaul as a blanket solution. What I do recommend is a pause. Pausing gives decision makers the space to really think about the brand, the organization, competitors, the market, and constraints. A pause provides the opportunity to talk with the executive team, the Board, and other key stakeholders before forging ahead with a solution that may or may not hit the mark. I routinely counsel corporations and non profits to take a breather and they almost always emerge with greater clarity on and commitment to next steps, and with stakeholders who are really engaged and invested in those next steps.

For organizations caught up in the chicken and egg question, it helps to think about questions along these lines:

-  Is my organization clear on the who/what/where/when/how of what we do? Could we benefit from more clarity here? If this is the case, a positioning exercise up front will help lead you toward clarity on whether the existing brand identity is working for you.

- What am I trying to accomplish with a rebrand or brand refresh? Would another approach or angle make sense here? If what you need is clarity on brand architecture, a rebrand may or may not be in order. You can, however, approach brand architecture without overhauling the brand completely.

- Do I need a full rebrand or just a brand refresh? A refresh is an option for many brands that need a visual update — a new color palette, typography, updated logo, etc.

- What are competitors doing with their brands and with their strategic communications programs? This is essential information!

- What are my budget constraints? Time constraints? Other constraints?

- What are my biggest pain points? Can I address them outside of a rebrand? If so, does that make sense from a results perspective?

Most of the time, these questions will lead you to the answer. And most of the time, the answer involves some hybrid initiative that involves some brand identity changes along with the development and execution of the high-impact strategic communications initiatives like direct marketing campaigns, broadcast, print and online advertising campaigns and the like.

If you’d like to ponder your organization’s brand identity, email me at mbove@mccabe-duval.com

- Meredith Bove

Photo credit: RedFerret.com

It still amazes me how a simple, tangible product can become so rapidly popular in our society today. As a child, I grew up a dedicated fan to the many fads that were popular in the early 90’s - Tamagotchi, Pogs and Slammers, and Beanie Babies, to name a few. Why were these products more successful than other products that lined the toy store shelves? Were they more actionably branded? Or, were they advertised in such a way that I would be afraid to show my face at school if I didn’t have one of these items in my brightly colored, embroidered, L.L.Bean backpack?

Any product can be popular with tactical planning and a general understanding of the importance of advertising. A true entrepreneur with a basic idea can turn that idea into a goldmine, by simply capitalizing upon a missing opportunity in the marketplace and promoting the product in a way that it deserves to be. Lets look at a few examples:

Tamagotchi – A simple hand-held digital pet that came in all colors. It was a game where your pet animal needed to be fed, walked, weighed, given medicine when it was sick, and played with. The owner had to constantly monitor the digital pet, to make sure that the health and happiness levels (similar to a battery level) would not go down so that the Tamagotchi, your beloved pet, would not get sick. Absolutely genius. I couldn’t live without it.

Pogs and Slammers – This was perhaps my favorite popular fad. “Pogs” are small, circular cardboard-like pieces that have painted pictures, holograms, or logos on them. They were collectable items – and I had baskets of them. You could go to a drugstore, toy store, or any gaming store and pick up a sleeve of Pogs, or you could handpick which ones you wanted for roughly $.01 to $5.00 each. The more sparkly, colorful, or sleek, the more expensive they were. And lets not forget Slammers. “Slammers” were built out of metal, and would be used to play a game involving Pogs. Two people would put their Pogs together in a stack, and each person would take turns using their own personal slammer and “slamming” it (for a lack of a better term) onto the pile. Whichever Pogs flipped over were yours to keep.

Beanie Babies – Who would have thought that stuffed animals would be vital to my existence at ten years old – or a six billion dollar empire? (according to Wikipedia.org) They were not just any stuffed animals – they were the “it” item, and were offered in bean-like versions of almost every animal imaginable, with heart tags and names. And they were collector items. Some were “rare” beanie babies, meaning that they were hard to find and worth a lot more money. This fad lasted about six months for me, and to this day, all forty of my “had-to-have” beanie babies sit on a shelf in my parent’s house, collecting dust. I just can’t bear the thought of parting with them.

How can one product make you feel like you would be alienated from society if you didn’t own it? Advertising. Popular Culture. The beauty of advertising is that it goes above and beyond a “product.” With clever advertising, a product can be turned into a lifestyle, a branded image, a mood or a feeling.

Through advertising, an ordinary product or idea (such as a stuffed animal) can be turned into something glamorous and necessary to your being. The trick to advertising is to do it in a manner that is admirable, unique and appealing, and will still leave the buyer satisfied.

- Samantha Tucceri

Photo credit: allhandhelds.com

Every day I find at least 3-4 pieces of direct mail waiting for me when I get home from work. What’s remarkable, I’ve found, is that at least one won’t have a strong call-to-action. Without fail. And that one will go in my trash quickly. It makes me wonder, why are these people wasting their time and money to produce weak mailers? Why are they putting so much energy into creating something that falls short? Because they don’t know the value of a call-to-action.

It is the copywriter’s job to get the audience interested in finding out more. The call-to-action is what makes people send in the reply form, pick up the phone, or visit a web site for more information. Don’t underestimate the importance of a strong call-to-action. It is vital. If I’m reading a mailer, watching a television commercial, or listening to a radio ad and I’m becoming more interested, that call-to-action at the end is what seals the deal. It’s what makes me request more information or at least take the next step towards buying the product. That is the copywriter’s goal. From there, it is up to the company to actually close the sale.

Surprisingly, there are a lot of ads and marketing pieces that fall short when it comes to directing consumers on what to do next. I’ve seen some ads have a web site or phone number listed at the bottom with absolutely NO mention in the copy of “Call today while supplies last!” or “Visit our web site to receive a free gift!” And that’s why those ads fail. I can almost guarantee the response rate is incredibly low. You need to push the audience, lead them in the direction you want. Don’t assume they’ll call. That’s a mistake. Make them call. Get them so interested that they are eager to find out more. Studies have shown that more people act when they are told to. Simple as that. 

-Alisia Leavitt

Photo credit: ozelink.com

The science of color is often called “chromatics” and plays a huge rule in how your advertisement is evaluated and perceived. According to Wikipedia, chromatics takes into consideration how your brain and eye receive a color and what emotions the color evokes. Studies have shown that colors have varying meanings to consumers, and that certain colors have serious negative or positive connotations for the individual. Colors have the power to cause attention, elicit certain consumer responses, and have a definite effect on consumer’s buying habits, thoughts, and emotions on a product or service. Through advertising and understanding the importance of color trends, one can better position a product or service to the marketplace.

By doing research on the Internet at sites like Color Wheel Pro, as well as reading articles like “Some thoughts on Color” by J.J. Goodell, and “The Impact and Emotion of Color” by Homes & Land magazine, I was able to find out more about colors and what they represent. The following descriptions are common emotions, words, and thoughts that typically are associated with each color. Included in this list are the most common reasons why each color is used in advertising. So, the next time you see these colors, think about how they make you feel!

Yellow: Life, joy, brightness, sunshine, intellect, optimism, cheerfulness, youth, spontaneity, zest, fruit, friendliness, and clean. Yellow is most commonly used in advertising when trying to gain attention.

Orange: Fun, eating, energy, warmth, sunshine, tropics, fascination, enthusiasm, creativity, cheer, citrus, endurance, wacky, friendly, and unique. Orange is most commonly used in advertising when emphasizing happiness, food products, or toys.

Red: Attention, heat, blood, fire, urgency, energy, war, danger, strength, power, passion, desire, love, courage, leadership, and intensity. Red is most commonly used in advertising when trying to stimulate a quick response.

Green: Health, calm, friendly, recycling, vegetables, abundance, nature, healing, harmony, fresh, fertility, safety, money, hope, protection, peace. Green is most commonly used when advertising something new or healthy.

Blue: Casual, sky, loyalty, wisdom, truth, stability, confidence, harmony, tranquility, intellect, high-technology, corporations, sports. Blue is America’s most popular color, and is most commonly used in advertising when trying to gain trust and advertise precision.

Purple: Royalty, luxury, ambition, extravagance, passion, glamour, dignity, mystery, and magic. Fun fact: 75% of pre-adolescent children prefer purple to all other colors. Purple is most commonly used in advertising when trying to evoke feelings, gain respect, or in children’s products.

Brown: Home, stability, politeness, conservative, Earth, mud, grassroots. Brown is mostly used when advertising energy or environmental products or services.

Black: Sophistication, expensive, power, death, evil, unknown, strength, authority and formality. Black is most commonly used in advertising when trying to be bold, daring, or in marketing a sophisticated product.

White: Light, goodness, innocence, purity, virginity, perfection, clean, safe, faith, and snow. White is most commonly used to set words or graphics apart on an advertisement.

- Samantha Tucceri

One of our latest campaigns has been a really fun and unique way to support RBC Bank’s acquisition of Alabama National Bank. The campaign provided a really high-impact way to enhance our client’s visibility and recognition in the southeastern states — and it was really fun to see the impact of spontaneous kindness in the community.

The campaign, based in part on RBC Bank’s tagline, “Let’s Do Something Giant”, was a joint venture with Escalate Marketing and proved extremely successful in the southeastern states of Florida, Alabama and Georgia. Spontaneous “Giant Acts of Kindness”, executed by a street team, included more than 13,000 acts, touching nearly 100,000 individuals. “Giant acts” included:

• Supplying pizza to local police departments and fire stations
• Providing newspapers and donuts to local office workers
• Assisting grocery store patrons with carrying groceries
• Distributing water to beachgoers
• Handing out dog biscuits to dogs and dog owners

In addition to being fun, this is a great example of using promotional marketing to complement a pretty traditional strategic communications program.

- Meredith Bove

Photo credit: art.com

Multiple definitions exist for the term “brand loyal” and I have struggled with this overused term for some time now. I understand that people are brand loyal because of how a product or service makes them feel, and because of their one-of-a kind, intrinsic reaction with the product. I get that when someone is brand loyal to a product or service, not even the price matters, because that person sees no comparable substitutes to how that product or service performs or makes them feel. If there is one brand I am passionate about, one brand that keeps me coming back for more, and one brand that I would never turn my back on, it can be stated in two words: Red Sox.

If brand loyalty demonstrates how emotionally attached one is to a product, I am 100% brand loyal to a fantastic, world-champion baseball team, brilliantly called The Red Sox. Brand loyalty means that one wouldn’t switch to another product if a substitute or competitor product becomes more readily available or less expensive. Example: Would I become a die-hard, brand loyal Yankees fan if the tickets were less expensive? Never. (This may be an unfair example, because Yankees tickets are expensive, and I would never become a fan.) MD+A’s President, Chris Duval, is a huge Yankees fan, so out of fairness to him, and because he loves baseball, let me just say…at least he is brand loyal!

Many would argue that people are brand loyal due to convenience, and because of the way the product or service fits into their lifestyle. If it was “convenient” for me to be a Red Sox fan, would I have loved this baseball team for years, and antagonized year after year during their (rather embarrassing) losing streak prior to 2004? No. One is brand loyal because of their true love for something, and for the exclusive, enriching component it brings to their life.

The Red Sox are composed of truly amazing, unique players that exude a laid-back charm, housed in a historical stadium, Fenway Park. True fans feel loyal to the nine-dollar Fenway beers. True fans proudly wear their jerseys – even during the off-season. Lastly, true loyal fans would never, ever switch sides or root against the Red Sox, because brand loyalty never fades…

-Samantha Tucceri

When I was studying in Australia on an independent exchange program, I spent my last few colorful bills on a collection of typography booklets designed and created by Letterbox, a Melbourne studio that one of my professors, Stephen Banham, founded.

These books are beautiful, whimsical objects that live in a now well-worn paper box with a spray painted “5″ on it. Not merely a series of pretty faces, the books contain discussions/debates on design matters with an emphasis on typography. Always enlightening, and ever-so-clever, the book collection is one of my dear typographic treasures.

One of my favorites (or should I say “favourites”?) is Ampersand Five, GRAND (released 2001). In this book, Letterbox discusses the typographic diversity by mapping “a kilometre of the city of Melbourne, Australia using typography as the only reference point.” Once the data has been collected, it is analyzed through engaging graphs, defining the percent of serif to sans serif, or how many instances of Helvetica (a controversial vanilla/versatile face) are present. The pages are also printed on self-adhesive stock, so you can tear out a page and stick it on something if you want – not that I would!

After documenting the vast dearth of typographic variety, the conclusion of this article offers a bit of serious insight, “The Effects of Style-guiding: The enforced style-guiding of the department store environment has had an immediate impact on the variety of typefaces used in the environment. It is perhaps ironic to note that the very people who profess a love of typography are the ones who are, at least partially, responsible for the minimalism of typo-diversity.” So succinct. So smart. I am reminded that there are endless ways to present information in a clear and creative way, without using a decidedly vanilla typographic palette.

I admit these books are true examples of “designers designing for designers,” but I love it and always find a new bit of wisdom hidden inside those painstakingly designed pages. (And I’m not alone: Grand was awarded a Certificate of Excellence from the New York Type Directors Club.)

NOTE: Not tired of typography talk yet? Letterbox Studio also has a section on their web site called “Typo-sites” that is devoted to maps of typographic tours of the South Australian cities of Melbourne, Richmond, and North Melbourne. There are also maps of excellent specimens of typography hidden in the area, complete with discussion of each site.

- Jen Merrill

Photo credit: writelines.net

Are you typing like a madman trying to bang out words before a 5PM deadline? Churning out ineffective, boring copy just to say you’ve got the job done? To be successful in copywriting, you must be willing to put in the effort. 

Copywriting is more than just words. You must learn about your clients. Learn about the audience. Study the creative brief. Understand the main objective and the important copy points. Do extra research. Ask questions. All of these things arm you with the mental ammunition you need to write better copy. 

My mentor and MD+A’s Creative Director, Connie McCabe, once told me to write as if I were having a conversation with someone. What would you tell them? How would you convince them that the product or service was worth using? 

Put yourself in the reader’s shoes. How would you react as a consumer? Does it make sense? Does it get the point across? Is it interesting? Do you want to learn more about the product or service? Your words don’t have to be complicated and confusing. Don’t force it — be natural. Avoid sounding rigid, because that will turn people off. Let your words flow and move the copy along in a way that will carry and engage readers. 

After a while, take a coffee break. Let your words sit. Walk away for a bit and then come back with a fresh approach. You’ll be better at finding what works and what doesn’t. Perhaps the biggest advice in copywriting is to edit. Edit a lot. Edit even when you think that everything is perfect — chances are there will be punctuation missing or a word left out. Spell check needs to be your best friend. Before you release to the client, have someone read everything over. A second pair of eyes never hurts — and sometimes catches important mistakes. 

Above all, love what you do. Love writing. Love advertising. Or, at least be interested in learning more. The industry is always evolving, so be aware of what’s going on. Watch commercials. Read ads. Listen to radio spots. To pack a punch, you need to know what you’re up against. Figure out ways to be effective and fresh — make the audience come closer for another look. In the end, if you don’t have a zest for your words, your ads will fizzle.

- Alisia Leavitt