From the category archives:

Creative excellence

Clueless is as clueless does

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How one-way is your advertising communication? Customers want to help you create a better buying experience—If you’re willing listen. Creating an authentic dialog with customers is no longer an option. On the other hand, engaging in sham dialog can be worse than having no dialog at all.

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Cast a wide creative net with Crowdsourcing [UPDATED]

Step out onto a street corner. Hold up a sign with a work assignment. Passersby offer solutions. You pick one and use it. Do that on the web and you’re crowdsourcing. Anyone can play. You pick the winner.
Crowdsourcing recently brought a 16-year gig to an end for Lowe, a major UK ad agency. Their client,[.....]

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Fractions and brevity: the unwitting soul of it all

Gilding the lily betrays a lack of confidence in your message. Here’s the fraction-reducing rule for crisp copy.

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Ad countdown to a new president: Reagan

Undoubtedly the best piece of political advertising in my life is this: Morning in America. We're a country of people who believe in our ability to pull through. When Reagan shined the light of hope on the red, white, and blue…. The outcome was inevitable. Reagan and Obama can both be called masterful storytellers. Though[.....]

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Click now or the dog gets it

Carnival barkers stand outside tents along the midway calling out, luring you to just step inside and see…
"Click bait" is their cyber-equivalent. It’s a website link that gets attention, piques curiosity and draws you to click through just to see what’s on the other side.

News sites like CNN and USA Today are[.....]

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Alignment that’s Grrrreat!

Saturday morning cartoons and sugary cereal are a tradition dating back to the dark ages of our childhood. It is a perfect example of advertiser needs trumping customer concern; they want to sell cereal to your kids without regard to your dietary standards. Till now.
Kellogg’s is now increasing the nutritional value [.....]

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