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Be playful
It makes you happy and drives competitors crazy

Presidential candidate Herman Cain says we’re wound too tight. We need to relax. It’s as central to Cain’s message as his 9-9-9 tax program. He is blissfully unconventional and unruffled by criticisms from homogenized traditionalists. He gives them fits.

Maybe that’s why his campaign tossed up this gem. As it sailed over their heads, all the tightly wound saw was a man smoking on TV (the horrors) and Cain’s so-called “creepy smile.” Watch it a couple of times. Do you get it? Keep watching till you do.

Cain is playing. His intentions are serious, but he’s not going all grave and gravitas about it. As if to underscore the point, Cain practically gives us a get-the-joke wink at the end. He’s all about being who he is while sticking his thumb in the eye of conventional wisdom and laughing all the way to the media bank.

No way did the ad cost over $500 to produce. But, consider the ROI: free plays on Letterman (CBS), Kimmel (ABC), plus countless runs on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and others. Cain’s campaign struck the mother lode of earned media by being themselves and having fun.

Playing is fun. It makes you happy. It drives competitors crazy. Case in point: Governor Perry unveiled a flat tax last week. What’s everyone talking about? Smoking. Creepy smile. Cain.

That’s a win for Cain and The Ten Be’s of Better Branding.

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Forever among the crazy ones

Why does Steve Jobs’ death matter to so many people who never met him? For the same reason some ads explode on impact while others whisper off unnoticed. Steve Jobs was relevant. Not in some abstract way, but in ways intimately personal to each of us.

He revolutionized our relationship with music. He gave us phones that were truly smart. He changed how we interact with computers (no matter what those Microsoft weasels say) with the Mac. (Sorry.) Then, in his final masterstroke, Jobs ushered in the post-pc era.

My heart sank when the news reached me. I thought of his family, his company, his ideas not yet realized. Then a smile grew as I watched movie of Steve’s making in my mind’s eye: the moment Michael Plotczyk first set my hand down on a Macintosh mouse in 1984, the Christmas morning Santa delivered my first iPod, the day John and I brought home our first blue iMac, the Mac I used to edit my first video in 1998, and on and on it played.

Then, these words came to mind: “here’s to the crazy ones….” Remember the ad?

I found a version of it which was never aired. It’s voiced by Jobs himself. Watching it, I realized how to make it, with due respect to Steve, insanely great. It’s how I’ll remember his impact on the world. Though we never met, he was the crazy one who mattered to my life.

(Special thanks to Andrew for his fast work in our smokin’ hot Mac editing suite building this.)
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Because today’s my bride’s birthday, it’s an especially heavenly day. Happy Birthday, Sandie. In 31 days we will vow share our lives till death do us part. So, pardon me as I publicly give thanks for the day she came into this world. We chose this Patti Griffin song for our wedding because, though she wrote it for her dog, the words speak to the heart of how Sandie and I look forward about our wedding day. How we met? That’s a marketing story for another time.

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Be aware
Observe and reflect the market you operate in

Advertising around an event as emotionally charged as 9/11′s 10th anniversary is risky. While many companies played it safe, taking a somber approach, State Farm chose a different tone that steps past the sadness so easily associated with 9/11, reminding us of the promise in a new day.

Spike Lee’s approach to this message provides an example of number six in Ten Be’s of Better Branding: observing and reflecting the market. By infusing State Farm’s message with a positive voice, Lee captures the spirit of a city and a nation that emerged from the dust and smoke more connected to the values that make us who we are. In fact, our first glimpse of the Freedom Tower doesn’t come until 1:08 into the video. No commentary. No voice-over. We’re left to remember while being reminded of those who made the ultimate sacrifice as the innocent voices of children sing of a city that unites us all.

Never forgotten. Forever grateful.

Indeed.

The ad ran during the 9/11 documentary aired Sunday on CBS. It’s gripping television worth watching, but not appropriate for younger viewers.

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