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So yesterday I purchased a patio set online. (Not during the working day OR using work computers, as that is not approved by company policy.) Rather unremarkable. Except for the fact that my purchase was promptly and automatically posted to my Facebook page. With my permission, I suppose. This is homage to the fact that many folks keep connected via social media. They share photos, events, activities and the minutia of their lives. As we social beings are wont to do. Instead of casual conversation around the water-cooler, people are staying connected in new and wider ways. No longer is proximity a requirement for intimacy. (Except, of course, for intimacy of a particular sort.) Now all my Facebook friends know I purchased a patio set (and more importantly FROM WHOM) and I didn’t even have to tell them myself.

How smart is Overstock.com to understand this way of communication and find a way that uses this social marketing tactic to market themselves? Very. As I said in my twitter comments… “my patio furniture purchase was posted to my Facebook page. Thank goodness I hadn’t purchased a vibrator.”

OK, I am at that awkward age… no right to be twittering or Facebooking. Old enough to remember marketing on a matchbook yet young enough to comment on marketing on my Facebook page.

So, do you like the patio set? Do you think I care?

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Here are some of the pages from this year’s political sticker book, which we call Polisticks. Click on the image to see a larger version. Hope you enjoy.

All images captured and uploaded with plasq’s Skitch!

What’s YOUR favorite sticker? We want to know. Any ideas you’d like to see in the book? Share them with us in the comments field. Hope you enjoyed this year’s book.

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When Moosejaw sends me an e-blast, I get a smile on my face before I even open it – and I ALWAYS open it. That’s cuz they’re always so darn wacko. Like subject line: “Wear your bathing suit in and get 20% off all swimwear! Seriously.” I couldn’t help but read on that salespeople would be in boardshorts and bikinis (a fib), and to “be sure to use the coupon code ‘My Bikini is Invisible’ if you don’t feel like dressing up.”

Or the First Ever Moosejaw Rocks, Paper, Scissors Sale promising that if I win “3 times in a row, we will hold you in the highest esteem, tell stories about you for years to come and give you a 20% off coupon.” Or the Jenga Sale encouraging me to “run to your favorite Moosejaw Shop and see if you have the skills to take on the finest collection of Rocks, Paper, Scissors players ever assembled.”

The product is outdoor adventure. The brand experience is an adventure into offbeat, laid-back, hardcore fun. We feel it throughout the colorful, Caribou-like stores, complete with indy rock, warm lighting and thoroughly chilled-out, welcoming employees. And it’s expertly extended throughout all communications under the perfectly appropriate “Love the Madness” themeline. Somehow, the whole package makes me feel ok spending $499 on a North Face coat (not that I have).

Kudos to Moosejaw. After all, when’s the last time you savored an e-blast message? Check out their website at www.moosejaw.com to sign up for the e-blasts and let us know if you love the madness.

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If it weren’t sad, it might be funny. A brand in decline. Sales slipping.

“It must be the advertising. Fire the agency. Get a new tagline. Get a new ad.”

Yeah, how’s the working out for you, Miller Genuine Draft?

Four agencies and eight taglines since 1991, yet sales continue to decline. The problem isn’t the “creative.” It’s that you don’t know what you are, what niche you serve and how to pick one position and stick with it until it resonates.

Below, courtesy of Ad Age, are the themelines for MGD for each year, followed first by the name of the agency that did the work, and then by the percentage market share MGD held that year. Strap in:

• 2001: “Never miss a genuine opportunity“–JWT–2.6%
• 2002: “Pure MGD“–JWT–2.2%
• 2003: “Keep what’s good“–Ogilvy–2.2%
• 2004: “Good call“–Ogilvy–2.0%
• 2005: Various themelines–Martin some, Ogilvy some)–1.8%
• 2006: “Beer. Grown up.“–Martin–1.6%
• 2007: “Experience is golden“–Y&R–1.5%

So shipments of MGD are down 41%. Guess what they’re doing to fix it in 2008? Testing two new themelines!

Yeah, that’ll work. Usually I would blame the product, but MGD isn’t that bad. In this case I think it’s the lack of any sort of brand identity. Calling it MGD was a horrible idea in the first place. And then failing to carve out a brand niche and stick with it is the kiss of death.

Good luck with your new themeline guys. I’ll look for the big turnaround…

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Remember Kobe Bryant, the alleged rapist? Did you follow the very public charges, counter-charges, the trial in Colorado? That’s over.

Remember Kobe Bryant, the whiner? Fighting with Shaq. Fighting with Coach Phil Jackson. Bygones.

You don’t hear about that Kobe these days. He seems to have put those issues behind him. His new signature show from Nike, the Zoom Kobe III is selling well. In fact, he sold it out, on his website, within hours.

And that, right there, is part of the key to Kobe’s rebirth. His new website, in which he appears in a series of videos designed to give you the appearance of a likable Kobe appearing in costumes, being involved in the director’s chair and more. His new website, where he controls the message, where he controls the product distribution.

It’s the first time an athlete’s personal website has been used as a retailer of Nike products.

This is big. It’s bigger than Kobe’s image. It’s a sign of how easy it is to bypass traditional everything in your marketing. It feels like he’s giving you a sneak peek behind the curtain, even though it’s oh so carefully managed.

Is it working for Kobe? It’s hard not to like him when you watch him dunking in all those costumes.

But beyond that, the ramifications for all of us in terms of marketing best practices are significant…

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An article today in Advertising Age http://adage.com/article?article_id=125794 reports that “the owner of Georgi vodka says that he is in talks to put the derriere of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer’s call girl on the backside of every bus in New York.”  The company that owns the US rights to the Georgi vodka brand reports that it is close to making a deal with Ashley Dupre.  They want to feature her as this year’s Georgi “butt girl” pinup that the brand places on city buses and taxis.

Wow.  On one hand, I admire the marketing balls.  Taking a controversial and timely issue and mating it with one’s brand.  On the other hand, I cannot shake the image of Spitzer’s obviously anguished wife and I cannot help but empathize with the pain his family must be enduring.

I can only conclude:  I am SO not the target audience for the Georgi vodka brand.  What do you think?  Who is the audience?  What are they supposed to think if this campaign ever sees the light of day?  Is this a legitimate liaison of marketing and current events or is it something sordid?  Where do you stand on this issue?

Photo Credit: Ashley Alexandra Dupre/Entertainment Pictures

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Longtime agency partner Scott Werner recently took the reins as Managing Partner here at Brogan. His move is part of our company’s practice of rotating the key position among top management. Werner takes over for Maria Marcotte who served as managing partner over the last year. Maria will continue her role as agency partner and chief operating officer.

Scott is now responsible for leading day-to-day operations and implementing strategy set forth by the Board of Directors, with support from the agency’s partners. He’ll report to the chairman on a daily basis and the Board of Directors quarterly. Scott personifies persistence and a tireless work ethic. In announcing his appointment recently, CEO Marcie Brogan mentioned that Scott started at Brogan 16 years ago as an unpaid intern fresh out of Eastern Michigan University.

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I love great marketing, particularly when it’s someone who does something both new and elegant and creates an attention grabbing campaign. The marketing idea behind this is brilliant. Amnesty International must have considered (rightly, I suspect) that people would care more about things happening around the world if they could imagine them happening where they live.

The marketers then had a brilliant production idea. Make the billboards transparent, other than the central image. By doing that simple thing, it would look like the activity was happening right on the street in that neighborhood. Genius. Take a look at this campaign, called “It’s not happening here, but it is happening.”

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It’s inevitable. We stroll the halls of hospitals galore, confident and nonplussed in our role as healthcare marketing professional. We meet the eyes of the gurney-bound and empathize with their plight as we continue to chatter about the newest expansion, brand campaign, or survey results.

Then our turn comes. And boy do things feel different. Your briefcase is replaced with a plastic bag to hold all of your personal belongings, please. Your sense of control melts into nervousness and vulnerability.

In my case, I was in pain, and grouchy from adhering to the “no food, drink or meds after midnght” rule. I glared at every chatty Starbucks-carrying person I saw.

However, I always try to use my patient experiences as learning tools. I become a mystery shopper, trying to notice every touch point (difficult when caffeine and med deprived). The older gentleman who opened my car door was an angel from above, even at 6 a.m., bless his heart. A huge contrast from the check-in clerk, who got through her litany of monotone questions without once making eye contact with me.

Eventually, a bed to lie in! Heaven! Curtains shut and my own nurse who proceeded to accomplish her myriad of tasks (including many redundant questions). I’m not perky at 6:30 a.m. either, but a little personality, maybe an attempt at some light humor, could have eased my nerves. She was nice enough as she completed her duties, while I laid under the warmed blanket meditating, praying, trying to get a grip. But I can’t say we “connected”.  And I can’t say we had to.

Things brightened considerably when my doc appeared. Relief. Comfort. Reassurance. I like her very much, but my emotions escalated to love at this moment in time. “Save me from my pain. Make me myself again”, I pleaded with my eyes. She held my hand, said she’d see me in a few in the O.R. and it would all be over soon.

I didn’t think it could get better until the anesthesiologist arrived . “Well, HI THERE! How are we doing today? I’m just going to give you a little something now to take the edge off — we’ll roll you down the hall to the O.R. –and then I’ll give you more for the procedure.” Call me shallow, but at this moment, after being in uncontrollable pain for weeks, I think I fell in love on the spot. He was an honest man too! Everything he said was true. I love how you can’t remember the procedure. I just don’t understand why he couldn’t come home with me and take care of the post-procedure recovery pain!

My post surgery nurse was all smiles and perky fun. We shared stories (can’t remember what they were) and she made me laugh. I later pondered how this was likely the result of the high Julia, who was feeling no pain. Yet.

Again, an elderly gentleman escorted me ever so tenderly to my car and wished me well. All that and it was only 9:30 a.m.!

Moral of the story: I’m in hospitals all the time and they don’t bother me a bit, but they really aren’t so much fun for the patient. However, the people and caretakers you encounter do make a difference in every little thing they do.

Another suggestion I would definitely make is to bring in that anesthesiologist a little sooner!

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The New York Times is reporting today that Alka-Seltzer is bringing back good ole Speedy, which our older blog readers might remember from ads from 1951 to 1980.

Not a bad idea, I think. Can anyone recall an Alka-Seltzer ad since “Plop, plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is,” came out of our 19″ console TVs with wood paneling and knobs? Not me. Even Pepto-Bismol ads, as rough as those are, are at least memorable.

The NY Times has posted two cute videos of a couple Speedy spots. (Link 1. Link 2.) Alas, the NY Times is greedy and doesn’t let me embed them into this post. But listen to Speedy in these spots. How can you not like that little guy?

So is this a trend, should everyone return to their ads from the days of yore? That depends. Have times changed too much for your product to go backwards? This ad suggests that it certainly has for some folks. Now, it’s more like, “Blow in her face and she’ll kick your butt…”

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Do you like using white boards?  Or does the very idea of a “brainstorming meeting” make you want to run for cover?  Our advertising agency trade association Second Wind, www.secondwindonline.com, recently had a discussion about how their member ad agencies approached concepting and developing ideas.  Here are some of the techniques used:

Floor-to-ceiling cloth tack boards:  good for tacking up sketches and concepts,  fun for cats

Galvanized metal walls: add giant magnets, large pads and markers and voila, your industrial space is instantly creative times ten

Gigantic sticky notes: Any smooth surface becomes a showplace for your creative energy.  Great for those-who-will-not-be-ignored

Cork boards: Old school, and remember tacks can be tons of fun.  Cork is ugly too. 

Erasable white boards:  Beware of the danger of sniffing the erasable markers.  Also, for big fun, mix in a few permanent markers with the erasable ones. 

Walls painted with chalkboard paint:  Now any workspace can become a chalk dust choked den of creative output.

The absolute very best thing about a creative wall is the idea of just leaving things up for collective individual commentary.  Now all the snarky comments you were afraid to voice publicly can be posted anonymously, provided you can disguise your handwriting.

What do you use?  Does it enhance productivity?  Do you have a “community comment wall”?  What is best about it? Is it fun or a time waster?

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Because you get the same level of passion, without all the crazy…

And yes, of course, I’m joking. This is just a funny spoof called “A few good creative men” featuring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise. Should be humorous to those in the advertising business… Hope you enjoyed.

It’s almost as fun as the ad agency spoof on It’s a Wonderful Life we had at the holidays.

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