March 2007
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Month March 2007

Entries 3 Total

Hi-Fi Blog 3: Tennessee Fireworks Mecca

Mar 12, ’07 8:48 AM

[youtube]8TIDvlDHslU[/youtube]

So this weekend I went to Atlanta with my roommate, our friend and his special lady. Quite a time. Quite a long trip. A few notes: Cracker Barrel is doing some great billboard work. Billboards promoting God and related services are quite a bit more common down there than they are up here. Barns that are all but fallen-down are used as outdoor media for towns and locations: “Tell your friends about Rock City” was one of my favorites. Improvised advertising.

The biggest, loudest advertisers down that way are the fireworks stands that dot the interstate. The video above (available here also for feed readers) is just a little example of the marketing wars these fireworks stands engage in. They’ve both elevated their product/service line above the norm, by adding booze, other cold beverages and of all things, GAS STATIONS to their locations. And they both had significant ad spends on billboards ALL OVER THE PLACE. But Big Daddy Fireworks won us over with their clever tag, “Best Bang for your Buck”. Get it?

FYI, Big Daddy’s retail space was WAY smaller than the sign he had up on the roof.

Comments (2)

Meyers + Partners seeks copywriter

Mar 5, ’07 12:10 PM

All readers: we’re looking for a copywriter. We’re not necessarily looking for someone with huge experience. But we do need someone who is excited about all forms of communications (from high-concept print ads to sales brochures to packaging copy to websites, blogs, etc. etc.). Ideally you should believe you know what you’re doing but be humble enough to realize you have a lot to learn. And you should be smart. And funny and/or willing to laugh and have a good time.

If you don’t already know where I work, it’s a place called Meyers + Partners, located in the West Loop (Greektown, specifically) of Chicago. It’s a small, quirky and fun place to work. Plus you’d have your very own office, with walls and a door. Let me know if you’re interested or know someone who wants to do something new.

Comments (1)

Sincerity

Mar 5, ’07 12:49 AM

CK’s blog (specifically the post about P&G and “conversations”) got me thinking about how everyone is having “conversations” with customers and developing “relationships” and asking for (and playing back) “true stories”. Seriously, it’s getting a little bit nuts. I know these are the right words for marketers to be using, but I’m worried about the implications of their over-adoption. Specifically, I’ll relay the comment I left at CK’s place. I rather liked it, mostly because it combines my major in college (Diplomacy & World Affairs) with my job/hobby:

“Remember in the Gladiator, where Emperor Commodus is lecturing the Roman Senators? He’s talking about his supposed ‘love’ for the people of Rome, and while the words are right, his delusions and underlying intentions invalidate his words.

‘I call it love. The people are my children and I their father. I shall hold them to my bosom and embrace them tightly….’

It comes off as more than a little ridiculous.

Empty words are far worse than silence.

Consider that the goal of our war in Iraq is to spread ‘freedom’. And the goal of the IMF is to ‘foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty.’ That sounds pretty good, right? But most of their programs have f’ed-up royally. And who knows the long-term results of the war. Of course, the good people in the IMF and in the US administration probably have the noblest of goals. But the programs they implement in the name of those goals have tarnished the words they use to describe what they do.

Now, when the US tells the world it aims to spread freedom, how many believe it?

When the IMF says they plan to reduce poverty, how many believe their words?

In the coming years, as marketers aim to foment conversation between companies and people, how many people will be willing to interact?”

Comments (1)