If he’s good enough for Sheriff Andy Taylor…

I admit that I cringe a little when I see celebrities endorsing political candidates, but this is good stuff.

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Buy From Us, We’ve Got a Better Logo!

This is front and center in a nice flash box on the Blue Cross of Idaho site.  As you can see, this logo was developed to “reflect the company’s Idaho heritage” and “convey a point of difference” between Blue Cross and its competitors.  Awesome.  It also kind of looks like the Coors Light logo, so I guess it also reflects a heritage of cheap beer brewed in Colorado (full disclosure, I happen to enjoy said cheap beer).

Anyway, I bring it up because I have to wonder what brand manager in his/her right mind would take up the most valuable real estate on the company website to announce not only that there is a new logo, but go on to explain the meaning behind it.  The copy sounds like it was taken straight from a creative brief, or a presentation the agency made when unveiling the logo to the marketing dept.

What I’m getting at is, do they really think the customer cares about what their logo is meant to reflect?  I have a feeling the customer is a little more worried about affording his premiums.  What about the person who just lost his job who is coming to the site looking for insurance coverage?  Does Blue Cross think he’s going to make his buying decision based on a logo with mountains?

Unfortunately, too many companies believe that their logo is their brand, and if they craft it just right and tell people what it means, consumers will perceive their brand in exactly that way.  Actions speak louder than words(or new logos), however.  If they truly want to be the “heritage brand” that people can trust, I would recommend that the most prominent space on their website should be used to inform people how they can get affordable health coverage, and how the company has resources to keep them healthy, which in turn keeps premiums down.   But what do I know?

How do you overcome frustration caused by your agency?

Help! My agency isn't listening...

How can you resolve frustration with your agency?

Here is the situation. So I am working with an agency on social media outreach for a project.  I provided the agency with all the assets, collateral, messaging, and target audience demographics. I asked them to put together a strategy and tactical execution plan to reach the identified audience either using the assets we have provided or provide within the plan what assets were needed to create the plan with this objective in mind: How do we reach this audience using social media? What social media outlets should we use? How do create awareness then preference? How do we measure success?  We have gone round and round on con call after con call….no big vision has been presented, no holistic strategy and tactic plan with benchmark goals to measure our success.

I look to an agency as a partner.  You provide an expertise that my company doesn’t currently have.  I provide the inputs, the direction and expect the agency to take their expertise, their research to provide a go-to-market plan to reach the objective of reaching a specific audience using social media as a platform.

So my question to the agency peeps out there…how can I overcome this frustration? how can I communicate clearly to my agency my needs and get them to provide me a clear plan to reach our objectives? What are the steps I can take, as a client, to get us on the same page to reach our objective?

Progress is Beautiful, indeed.

I’m sure I’m late to the party on this one, but I happened to see this Audi spot over the weekend and it blew me away.  Now, normally I try to watch TV on DVR whenever I can so I can skip through the commericals (yes, I recognize the irony of that statement), but this spot actually made me stop and say “whoa.”  Yes, I actually said that out loud.  It struck me that in a time when everyone is saying the TV commercial is dead or dying, someone can still produce work in this medium that is emotionally compelling.  Isn’t that what we got into this business to do: make people stop and say “whoa”?

What do you think of this spot?  Love it or hate it?  Any other spots that you’ve seen lately that stop you like that?

In Advertising, we’d call this “ignoring the brief”

“We do not support government bailouts of private institutions. Government interference in the markets exacerbates problems in the marketplace and causes the free market to take longer to correct itself. We believe in the free market as the best tool to sustained prosperity and opportunity for all.”

Source:  2008 Republican Party Platform

Hey Barack, While You’re Up, Get Me a Beer

According to a Associated Press Yahoo News Poll, slightly more Americans would rather watch football with Obama than McCain.  My first reaction was, “who gives a shit?”  But then the AP/Yahoo informed me that this was significant “because in many elections, candidates considered more likable often have an advantage.”

Unfortunately, they’re right.  Despite all of the policy statements and ideological bluster, we Americans vote for the leader of the free world based on who we’d want to hang out with on a Sunday, drinking beers and screaming at our fantasy football players.

So which political leader (living or historic) would you want to watch football with?  Me, I’d like to hang with Churchhill…he probably wouldn’t have a clue why we were watching something called “football” with guys in helmets who carry the ball, but I’d bet he’d bring over some really good scotch and cigars.

Reaching the elusive orange latex semi-gloss market

Wow, everything I need to know about multicultural marketing, distilled down into four colorful buckets of paint.  And for only $300?  Thanks Adweek!

I went down to the Chelsea Drugstore

No matter how bad these economic times get, we can rely on Mick and Keef to help us keep things in perspective.

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