Cool Ink, Bro.

There are some people who get tattoos to commemorate a family member or friend who has passed away. Some get inked to mark a milestone or chapter in their life. And then there are people who get tattoos to save $2.50 on their next purchase.

(Branded. Literally.)

Marc Ecko is offering his customers a 20 per cent discount for the rest of their lives if they have the cojones to roll up their sleeves and put a needle to their skin. Er...to get a tattoo. Fans can either get the Ecko rhino or the Cut & Sew shears, both clothing lines owned by Ecko.

While this lifelong promotion is redefining the terms 'branding' and 'customer loyalty', I think the most peculiar part about this is whole ordeal are the people who are actually getting these tattoos. Look at it this way:

1) Tatts cost hundreds of dollars, and most parlours have a $100 or so minimum that you must spend.
2) Ecko is definitely not a bargain line, so it can be safe to assume that someone who shops at Ecko might spend somewhere near $80-$120 per visit; an average of $20 in savings.

So, you throw down $100 to get the smallest, simplest tattoo you can get, but then you'll have to spend an additional $500 at an Ecko store to break even on that cost. So, it's not until you spend an initial $600 until you can start "saving" money. Now you have to start thinking how much/long it would take if you got a more elaborate tattoo with colours and intricate designs to go along with the logo (you can redesign that tattoo whichever way you want, s'long as the logo stay intact), that will cost another couple hundred, which delays this saving process even more.

If the financial aspect isn't a concern to you, I hope people realize that they'll have a logo tattooed to to their body. No cool story or special meaning behind it. Those who give up their skin are basically converting themselves into living, breathing ad space and a meaty mobile coupon.

To me, it's just not worth it. But I guess this promo is for the more audacious, seat-of-one's-pants individual. At least it's not as embarrassing as this:

(Ouch.)

Terribly Fowl

As I was lounging away the afternoon at a friend's house this weekend, I flipped though a home improvement magazine that was lying around. Within said magazine, I found this gem:

Brutal.

But the point of this post isn't to show you an awful ad. I'm actually showing this to you because I empathize with the sorry sap that had to make this. With everyone waiting for the account that'll give them the opportunity to create the campaign that'll make them famous, it's always a bummer when your boss tosses you a brief for a product like this instead.

It'd probably be hard to stay sane if all you did was write ad after ad, each one as insipid and uninspiring as the last. I imagine whoever wrote this ad was feeling a bit cheeky and decided to hand this off to proof, thinking it wouldn't even make it past the person sitting over at the next desk. But, to their surprise, the client approved it and it went to print.

That might have been the case, or it could simply just have been a bad ad, written by a bad copywriter. Either way, there's still an attempt at creativity there, however effective or ineffective it is.

When working as a creative, there's a possibility that you won't be doing anything that requires much creativity at all. I think this is something that people should consider, especially when you're about to take your first step into the ad world like my classmates and I will be doing in a couple months. But you have to start somewhere, right?

So, I say do the work of a peon and do it without complaint, but when you get an opportunity to be creative, take advantage of it and create something fun, different and will make people stop and look, no matter how fowl it may be.

Quack.

Me Good Words. What?

Sometimes I have to write things. Even now, I am writing things. I mean, can't you tell? You're reading my blog things right now, you dummy!

Sometimes I'm bad with words. Sometimes, I use the same words too much and my things seem really amateur. This is when I consult the online Thesaurus.

It makes you feel a little bit sad to find this funny, eh?

Please, let me restate what I meant to say before, but a little more eloquently.

Ahem.

Occasionally, I have to compose written materials. Even now, I am formulating information. I purport, can't you recognize this? You are deciphering my web log at this moment, you ignoramus!

I am intermittently ghastly with letter combinations. Recurrently, I employ like words most copiously, thus my properties appear to transform me into an abecedarian. This is when I beseech the sacred digital tome of alternative written fricative and vowel amalgamations.

(I almost died writing that)

Of course, I'd never ever write like that. Word barf to the X-treme! But I do use the online thesaurus every so often, as should you! If you are every luck enough to visit the website and see this, you have been blessed by the touch of advertising in new media.

80% off AND fun little illustrations? Yes, please.

Pretty fancy business eh? Like I've said time and time again, ads are sneaking into every nook and cranny. Don't even try to wash between your armpits, it's useless!

So this is obviously an ad. Blatant promotion for CS5 that takes up an entire page. But, is it distracting? Does it block and obscure what you came to the website for? Nope. It's just kind of in the background doing its own little thing. Admire it if you want, or don't.

Compared to YouTube ads that get "all up in your grill" and won't let you watch your baby drummer video unless you invest 15 or 30 seconds of time to ignore an ad first, this is fantastic. It's taking advantage of the new ad spaces that people are selling without annoying the people you're trying to get to like you.

There's also a strategic element to this too. Students and teachers alike use a thesaurus to sound smarter. And what's this selling? Student and teacher editions of CS5! Smart. Very smart.

Anyways, I'm going to stop writing things (D'oh) because I know all you're thinking about is that baby drummer video I talked about. Here it is:

Enjoy...you ignoramus!

My Friends Wear Diapers

Not really, but now that I think about it, if they did, they probably wouldn't tell me anyways.

YouTube is "rolling in the coin" these days by selling ad space everywhere and anywhere on their site and in their videos. Do you remember the time where we could watch funny cat videos free of charge without pop ups or whatnots? Ah, the good ol' days. No matter, I'm sure we've all already learned how to ignore these ads completely.

I can't even do that yet!

I have a friend who lives in New Zealand and we'll chat over Skype or send the occasion letter over the Pacific. We're both musicians, though we like quite different kinds of music, and we enjoying sending each other videos or tracks of each other playing whenever we can find the time to.

She sent me a link to a video she posted on YouTube of her covering a song by a band that I don't care too much for (no offense, Emma! it's still quite good!). As I was watching it, a nice little ad popped up from the bottom of a screen.

YouTube InVideo ads, if they were groundhogs.

Annoyed, I slammed by finger on the touch pad and slid it across the ice smooth surface to close the ad. All of a sudden, I burst out laughing. Before I clicked the ad into oblivion, I had just noticed what it said:

Click for a bigger image (heh.)

Her face in this screenshot captures what her actual face would have looked like if she knew.

InVideo ads can be bought on YouTube videos, the price depending how long your animation is (if you have one at all), how frequently you want it to run and how big it is. When you buy this space, you are also allowed to track who has seen it, how many times it's been clicked etc.

The way that they circulte the ads is simply by audience targeting. By demographic, content and interest-bsed targeting, they can send out ads that will reach the audience the product fits. Good for the companies, but not so great for unsuspecting victims like my friend here.

Other than InVideo ads, you can also buy Companion Display ads (the ones that appear beside the video), Flash Video ads (the ones you actually have to let play before the video even starts), or the Masthead ads that take up half of the entire YouTube homepage.

As new technologies come out, ad folk will learn to infiltrate them like the silent assassins they are. There's no escaping from us. That's something you can Depend on.

The one about 'The Office'

I don't watch a lot of TV because I don't find watching the same episodes over and over again on every channel that much fun. The only shows that I really do follow are LOST, Californication, and now recently The Office:



If you watch this show, you will know who Pam, played by Jenna Fischer, is. Now, every time I watch the show on Peachtree TV, an American network, this commercial comes on EVERY break:


(Sorry, the quality of this video isn't that great)

Also, I never see this commercial on any other time. There's obviously some rationale as to why this is and what great rationale it is.

The simple fact is: "You can't NOT like Pam". She's the office sweetheart, Jim's wife, and not Michael Scott. Viewers trust her and side with her almost all the time. So, when she appears again right after she's just been on, those feelings towards her are still present. You still trust her and you still think she has the best intentions at heart.

The simple fact is: "You can't NOT like Pam". When she starts talking about Proactiv and all its benefits, you just think she wants to share this fantastic product with you. WOW, what a purely altruistic action! Thanks, Pam! And with this, you go and buy barrels of it. Hopefully by purchasing this, you can now have clear beautiful skin like Pam and be as good as a human that she is. At least I do...

Nice tactic Proactiv. Nice.

They'll Fight Back

The Canadian Cancer Society has broken free of the conventional stereotypes that most people associate with charitable organizations.

Two peers of mine, Lauren Feilberg and Lindsey Enns, will be doing a promotional video for this organization next year, and showed me this video:



Now I'll give you all a second to go blow your noses and wipe your eyes. As they fight back against cancer, these survivors and people affected by cancer leave us fighting back tears. The first time I actually saw the video, I didn't actually see it. Two people were watching it behind me with the volume on. I immediately knew this was effective because I didn't need to see the visuals to be affected.

When you usually think of organizations that support a cause, you usually think something along the lines of, "Oh, that's so good they're doing that," and, "Sure, I'll donate to them...maybe later though." You know that they need support but your only justification for it is that it's because they're a charity and charities need money. People who aren't personally affected by it never are able to put a face to the cause, and I think this is why they don't contribute. They don't have a "what's in it for me" aspect to it.

This one video gives you 8 faces to put the cause to. And you don't want to support these faces because you feel sorry for them, you want to support them because you want to stand behind them while they fight. We see these incredibly strong people and support them because we want to be like them.

The story behind this is that they put these people in a room, not knowing what was going on. They then told them to say what they would say if cancer was in the room. The result: pure raw emotion.

This is a great new campaign that makes us feel all the emotions that some of us might not go through in a mere two-and-a-half minutes.

So dry you eyes and help fight back! http://www.fightback.ca/

PS: Eyes will become wet again after visiting site and watching more videos.

Off of hiatus?

Looks like I'm back.

A month or so ago my laptop died and I've been out of commission ever since! I have spent every night at school busy doing work and trying to get some sleep too. I've been buried underneath PR proposals, magazine projects and writing narration for a fishing lesson website. Huh? Yeah I know. I'll let you know where you can hear one of my narrations!

Anyways, I now am a brand new owner of a brand new laptop.

So, I've declared my major for next year. I am now officially an advertising major as of August of this year, Creative Communications, Red River College. I look forward to venturing and immersing myself further into the world of advertising and I will let you know how I progress.

Now to the post. Something that has really been bugging me is what people think are "good ads" nowadays. When you think of a "good ad" you think of funny. That's what everyone thinks now. Superbowl ads are the best. Funny office ads are the best. Well, I guess I'm generalizing but the only ones people seem to remember are the ones that make them laugh.

Is this a positive thing? Yes. Only if the person can remember what the product is. Some ads try to be so offbeat and different that their message gets lost in between the flash and glam. People might say it fits because they're trying to make the brand "fun"'. I think this is too general. You can slap 'fun' on anything. Sweeping, driving, eating or even indigestion. But fun can't be the only point, it can't be the only 'big idea'.

I'm not saying everyone thinks the only ads that are good are funny, but most. It seems like the mentality in the industry now is to hit home with the shorter attention spanned public that can't focus on one thing for more than 15 seconds. I guess that's where we're headed though. We have access to so many things, we never have to wait to be amused because we're just one click away from something that might hold our interest a little more.

I read a couple Ogilvy books recently, all of which were written way back when all my school instructors had hair and inspiration in their eyes (hah). It seems to me, back then, everything was copy heavy. You were writing engaging and alluring copy to take the reader in. People were doing sales pitches in paper. I romanticized this way of creating ads and tried to do it myself. Every peer I showed always said "too copy heavy" or "that's a nice picture". No one actually bothered to read the copy. No one wanted to give time to let me sell to them.

This is when I became pseudo-depressed. Was I learning nothing? Was everything I read non-relatable to this day and age? Well no. You need to know the history of thing. Find out what worked, what didn't, and how we got to this point. But yes, you can't stay back in that time of suits, womanizing and the time where the Marlboro cowboy was king. For some of my magazine ads, I decided to go for short, sweet and funny. And guess what, people laughed, people said it was great.

I guess what I learned was that you have to write different for different people. Maybe I'll always be in love with the days of yore but I don't mind making people laugh either.

MC