You don’t need the biggest budget to succeed at marketing. The biggest budget doesn’t guarantee success.
No, you need the best ideas. The best ideas win.
What do you think?
Posts Tagged ‘creativity’
How to get a job for $6
Thursday, May 13th, 2010Don’t ignore “Ignore Everybody”
Friday, April 2nd, 2010
In Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, Hugh MacLeod shares his 40 keys to creativity with straight talk and no apologies.
There are no silver bullets, and instead he talks about refreshingly honest things like the fact that selling is harder than it looks, you have to put in the hours and you should keep your day job.
My favorite: Meaning scales, people don’t.
You won’t agree with everything he says, but that won’t matter: there are a few gems in it that make it worth your time.
It’s only 154 pages and is packed with his little illustrations so you’ll be able to read it one sitting—and you probably will.
‘Nuff said.
Special thanks to Ray Basile for giving me this book. You are a gentleman and a scholar.
Don’t cut corners on creativity
Monday, January 18th, 2010I’ve said it a million times: It takes creativity to break through the clutter. Here’s an ad that does just that:
2009 was rough year, and a lot of companies have dramatically cut their marketing budgets. A lot of brand advertising budget has been moved to sales promotion.
You gotta do what you gotta do. But whatever you do, don’t cut corners on creativity. Bland and boring never sells.
Via illegaladvertising.com
On creativity, sidecar moments and marketing
Thursday, February 12th, 2009
I saw something I’ve never seen before on the way to work yesterday: A thin, jumpsuit-clad man with white hair and beard riding a 70’s-era motorcycle with a sidecar.
Just the sight of him sent my imagination racing: Who was he? How old was he? What did he do? What was he like? Did he build the motorcycle himself?
Maybe he’d traveled the world, built a fortune and was now spending his days creating metal sculptures when he isn’t out riding his motorcycle. Or, maybe he just committed homicide and was making his getaway.
Who knows?
The point is, he was different. He was unique. And he was like no other.
Nobody has fired my imagination like he did in a long time—and I only saw him for five seconds.
I’ve seen tens of thousands of cars and motorcycles over the last several months, but because he was different, I noticed him.
From now on, I’m calling events like this, “sidecar moments.” It’s one of those rare occurences when you see something different enough that you stop, pay attention and take a few minutes to ponder what you are experiencing.
What’s this have to do with marketing?
Though marketing is about differentiation, ironically we often try to emulate other things we’ve seen elsewhere:
We’re all guilty of this, and of course, it’s okay to look at what others are doing for inspiration.
But whatever you do, don’t let someone else’s marketing get in the way of real creativity.
Instead, don’t be afraid to be completely unique. Create a sidecar moment for your prospects and customers. They’ll notice you, and it might even get people talking.
So, how can you make your marketing really stand out?
Comment below to weigh in.
Will the economy kill creativity?
Thursday, November 20th, 2008Breaking through the clutter amid consumer cynicism and information overload requires creativity.
Creativity comes in all forms. It can be beautiful, disturbing, fascinating, shocking, heartwarming, awe-inspiring, scary, fun—you get the point.
We all know that creativity isn’t always easy to sell. Sometimes it’s the budget. Other times it’s inertia. But whatever it is, experiencing something that evokes real emotion—good or bad, is special.
Here are three ads that are creative, for very different reasons:
This ad for Australian tourism feels like a trailer for a major motion picture. No surprise there: It was Directed by Baz Luhrmann, the man that brought you “Moulin Rouge” and “Romeo and Juliet.”
While the country was still reeling from the 9/11 attacks, advertisers were in an awkward position: How could they keep their brand in front of consumers without seeming insensitive about the situation? Budweiser pulled it off with this ad.
As one of the world’s most recognized consumer brands in one of the most highly competitive categories, the bar is always high for Coca-Cola. This ad was like nothing before it.
I’d hate to see visually interesting advertising like this go away. These are the ads that build long-term value in a company—that help ingrain a brand into a consumer’s mind.
On the flip side, when it comes to what drives sales, advertising isn’t necessarily the most cost effective form of promotion:
The fact is, it is strategically responsible to move some marketing dollars from advertising to sales promotion to keep sales moving until the economy rebounds.
Marketing budgets shouldn’t be discretionary, but they usually are. With what remains, will sales promotion get all of the marketing budget, reducing advertising to nothing more than offers and dollars-off coupons?
It could happen.
Given the economy is that what should happen?
David Ogilvy once said “If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative” but he wasn’t advocating promotional advertising. To the contrary, his point was that without creativity you won’t break through. And in a way, he was saying your advertising has to be creative to be ROI responsible.
So, what do you think?
Will the economy force marketers to move their budgets to short-term, sales-driven promotions? And if they do, will creativity take a hit?
Comment below to share.
There’s always room for creativity
Wednesday, October 1st, 2008Here’s a great example that proves, no matter how small, no matter how mundane—everything is better when you sprinkle in a little creativity:
Click on the image above to enlarge.
D-Barcode of Japan gets it.
Why settle for a standard barcode when you can entertain and engage your customer? And when you reward customers and prospects for paying attention, they’ll reward you with strong word of mouth.
So, what other marketing contact points would benefit from a little extra creativity?
Comment below to share.
Inspiration for this post came from Paul Kiesewetter on Twitter via Brightkite.
Creativity outside the lines
Wednesday, July 9th, 2008
To raise awareness regarding the AIDS pandemic in South Africa and commemorate World AIDS Day, The Cape Argus newspaper used their page numbers to share statistics provided by UNICEF and the South African Department of Health.
View several examples by clicking here.
The statistics are chilling. The awesomely simple and creative execution is inspired. And it’s encouraging a conversation about this oh-so-important topic.
Now that, my Responsible Marketing friends, is creativity.
Where have you seen truly inspired creativity?
Comment below to share.
Inspired by this post in Adverbox.
Mad Men and AdAge: Where the truth lies
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008In Can subliminal marketing be responsible? I shared a faux subliminal ad that AMC was using to promote Mad Men, their series about a fictional Madison Avenue ad agency set in 1960.
For a number of reasons, I argued that for this show, subliminal advertising would actually be the responsible thing to do, even though subliminal advertising doesn’t work.
The Golden Globe®-winning series for Best TV drama and actor will be back on Sunday, July 27th (I can’t wait) and it’s DVD box set is being released on July 1st and AMC is going to make sure that the sleeper hit of last year gets a lot more attention this season.
Today, I received this in the mail:
At first, I thought Ad Age was simply doing a retro cover. Upon closer inspection, I realized MadMen had done it again when I saw the headline “Sterling Cooper Wins Kodak Projector Account” with a picture of the agency’s Creative Director, Don Draper.
I showed it to two members of my team (possibly the only two that don’t watch the show) and asked “What’s wrong with this picture?” Both thought it was just a retro cover.
Like the show, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s fake. Sixteen pages intermingles real articles pulled from the Ad Age archives, along with an interview of Draper, “then and now” comparisons and lots more.
There’s a lot to like here:
Two quotes from a sidebar called “What They’re Saying…” you might find of interest:
Advertising is based on one thing: Happiness.
[Advertising] is most effective when it does its job, for whatever client, in an honest way.
The first quote is by Draper. The second is by John F. Kennedy.
So, which quote to do you agree with more, and why?
Comment below to weigh in.
