We have seen a lot of commercials that just don’t sell. One reason can be the context of the message. By context, I meant the executional elements that round out the message and provide a framework for it. The strategy might be “Tide cleans clothes better.” But there needs to be a commercial execution around… Read More »
I had to phone to complain about a charge from my telecom solutions provider. I don’t know when they became a solutions provider instead of a telephone company. Here is what happened, and why I think that a lot of companies are training their customers to be jerks. The bigger the jerk customers become, the… Read More »
We were pleased a few years ago when our Media Director advised us that she had negotiated a free promotion activation from the CBC. She got a promotional tie-in with Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) for our Subway client and, even better, it was to run during the highly rated Stanley Cup Playoffs. All… Read More »
Once upon a time, when I was working as a prospector, I arrived by helicopter at a camp northwest of Lake Babine, 80 kilometers or more from any highway. Just two of us were there. It was an almost completely forested area, flat, with many mountains nearby; it was just south of the Netalzul Mountains. I… Read More »
A freelance assignment in Hungary came up in 1989. The country was just breaking free from Russian domination and communism, literally at that very moment. A bank in Budapest, called DunaBank, wanted to use their new entrepreneurial freedom to launch a credit card. We did this and after a couple weeks returned home. After I… Read More »
The Creative strategy for Camay bar soap in Venezuela was that it was gentle, leaving skin feeling soft because Camay contained cold cream. Softness was the end benefit of using the product, being caressable was what we called the end-end benefit, a social benefit to a physical one. The commercials were designed to empower the… Read More »
One minute I was playing squash with my friend Alan, the next minute I was totally in the dark. I could see nothing. Just blackness. Nothing. What happened? The weird thing was that Alan saw the same thing. We had been playing squash on the fifth floor of a club in New York City on… Read More »
A freelance assignment in Hungary came up in 1989. The country was just breaking free from Russian domination and communism. A bank in Budapest, called DunaBank, wanted to launch a credit card. I was hired based on my marketing work with Texaco’s credit card operation, and the fact that Canada was less scary and more… Read More »
When buying a new car in the US, you are given two prices on the vehicle as you browse: Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) and Market Adjusted Price (MAP). Why? MSRP is required disclosure on all vehicles and is commonly called the “sticker price.” It used to be an anchor price that told buyers what… Read More »
I once gave a class presentation about the psychology used in advertising that leads people to deceive themselves. I outlined some of the techniques to our class of about twenty or so. At the end of the class, a number of students said they did not believe me. They said they could never be fooled… Read More »