Virgin America - Truly Creating An Airline Americans Can Love

Instead of just creating a checkmark video (client: "We need a safety video as it's regulation and all of our competition has one. So, just create something so we can so.") ... Virgin America goes on and creates a relevant and engaging safety video that I actually paid attention to and I even learned from.

So often I tell myself in my mind that if my flight experienced any problems I wouldn't really know what to do - even though, I fly more than once a month. Now with this video I, a frequent flyer, paid attention, wanted to watch and actually learned.

Thanks to Anomaly and Virgin American for going against the grain and not just creating another checkmark video.

Cheers to many happy and safe flights.

p.s. I love the announcer's voice...very soothing and friendly.

P&G: The Next Bono?

Procter & Gamble has launched a new ad campaign for their Always and Tampax brands. Following in the footsteps of (Product) RED, P&G is latching onto a social cause in Africa.

According to a P&G press release and their program microsite, 1 in 10 school-age African girls do not attend school during menstruation or drop out at puberty because of the lack of clean and private sanitation facilities in schools or because they can't afford to buy sanitary pads or tampons. Those girls who miss school because of their menstrual cycle, lose an average of more than a full month of classes in a school year. Then there are the girls who refuse to lose time from their studies and instead resort to utilizing other methods like old pieces of cloth, used blankets or tissue paper. The sad news is that these methods are unsanitary for the girls, their classmates and teachers.

So, P&G has decided to step up to the plate. The company has vowed to donate $1.4 million through 2008 to the United Nations Association HERO Campaign - at least with the help of our purchases. Still not sure how about the financial specifics of this program as I'm unable to find specifics about the deal. Wonder if P&G will donate X amount for each purchase up to $1.4 million or if a specific sales goal needs to be met overall. That information would be beneficial for a consumer.

As part of their Protecting Futures program, P&G is also funding a health, hygiene and puberty education program that will be taught by a traveling health educator and are funding a health care provider who will provide health care to the girls.

It's an interesting strategy. Especially in a low involvement category. I personally feel no attachment to any specific brand of sanitary products. I stick primarily with the P&G brands because of the smooth blue coloring of the packaging and it's a nostalgic brand that I have been consistently using since my teen years. Both brands actually remind me of the Cover Girl brand...they are teenish, all-American, convenient. But, this program, actually gives me a bigger reason to continue purchasing Always and Tampax. It's a little way to help the world. Which as a Millennial is right up my alley. That's what my generation is all about...a little, effortless something that allows me to give back is something that is worth participating in. The Entitlement Generation wants to be in the limelight and tell others that they are doing good, but they also don't want it to be too time-consuming or laborious.

I have a feeling this program will get a lot of buzz (I hear Oprah or Tyra calling) and will be a financial success (as it's just giving us women - the non-price sensitive consumers out there - a reason why to choose one brand over another...especially in a category that in the past didn't give us any reasons why to pick them besides price).

"Who knew a little thing like purchasing a pad or tampon could make such a huge difference?"

W+K: Awwweeessome

W+K knows how to make me smile & they know how to make me all giddy inside full of inspiration & childish hope for great creative marketing campaigns. I get all warm and gooey inside.

They got me with their external promotion of themselves.



W+K is hiring. What a fun way to get me interested in you. And W+K thanks for making me feel warm & fuzzy inside. Go & experience the application process - so fun!

Office Max Launches Elf Yourself 2.0 - The Start of a Christmas Tradition

Marketers pay attention.

It's good to acknowledge an old campaign that worked and it's ok to bring it back to life. Actually, sometimes it's better than ok - it can be even more successful.

I applaud Office Max. Welcome Elf Yourself 2.0. Hopefully, the start of a Christmas Holiday tradition. I expect an Elf Yourself 3.0 next year and a 4.0 the year after that.

In 2006, the Elf Yourself microsite for Office Max was a big success bringing in 200 unique visitors per second and creating 8 new elves per second (according to viralblog.com)and generating 36 million visits in just about 5 weeks for a small budget (Office Max created 20 microsites - one being Elf Yourself - for a budget of 3 traditional TV spots. Not to mention how much press time and consumer buzz this creative effort received. You can still find Elf Yourself 1.0 examples on Flicker and YouTube - even the Good Morning America crew created elves and don't forget the ever hilarious farting elf.

To give you an idea of the extent of the success of Elf Yourself 1.0, Burger King’s Subservient Chicken generated 14 million visits in one year.


So, it's 2007...
and, right in time for the 2007 Holiday season, Office Max launches Elf Yourself 2.0. I believe the one difference is that this time you can select multiple dancing elves. Exactly what my little sister decided to do with me, my mum, my grandmama and of course herself - click here to laugh your pants off...I'm the slow elf.

The aspect that I really appreciate about this effort it that it's a fantastically fun and engaging consumer experience that I WANT to share with friends, family, strangers and it actually starts to shift my perception of the stogy and undifferentiated Office Max brand. I caught myself considering shopping at Office Max for a Holiday present. And trust me this is a store that normally would not even come remotely close to falling into my consideration set. I have very high standards - admittedly, a bit of a shopping experience and brand snob.


A couple recos for Office Max:
1) Make this an annual Holiday tradition. Make yourself part of our Holiday experience by providing us with an Elf Yourself version every year. Great way for a brand to become emotionally attached to a consumer during a highly emotional and transactional period of time.

2) Ever hear of Facebook, MySpace, iVillage, Social Networks? I'm missing the Facebook Elf Yourself 2.0 application for 2007. Missed opportunity to generate even more buzz and participation. I would keep an eye out in 2008 for the latest online environments that can help this effort have an even larger presence. Just remember not to force it and to keep it authentic. That's one of the beauties of Elf Yourself.


Now, go spread the cheer and create your own elf.

Quote of the day

In preparation of the upcoming and long anticipated Sex in the City movie here's a great Carrie Bradshaw quote:

"Maybe our mistakes are what make our fate. Without them, what would shape our lives? Perhaps if we never veered off course, we wouldn't fall in love, or have babies, or be who we are. After all, seasons change. So do cities. People come into your life and people go. But it's comforting to know the ones you love are always in your heart. And if you're very lucky, a plane ride away."

Ok, one more...& not such a sappy one...
"I'm thinking balls are to men what purses are to women. It's just a little bag, but we feel naked in public without it."

Egos in Advertising

The Ego Epidemic in advertising is ridiculous. This is one industry - probably because it's idea driven - that is high on ego and self-rightesness.

How many times do people take credit for someone else's idea? How many times do people add in comments to briefs/in a client meeting just because they want to be heard? How many times are people wrong and just don't say "Oops, didn't mean to do that?"

I'm in the account planning field and I am so sick of watching planners walking around all high and mighty. Like they are some kind of magical wizards that have all the wisdom and answers. Little do they like to admit that without the creative department they would be nothing. Nada. Hear that. Planning should inspire the creatives not be nit-pickers on briefs and wheels in a larger cog.

The greatest planners of all time are those that are genuine and not full of themselves. These are the ones that creatives take to, want to work with and go seek out for input. Those other planners out there - you know if you're one of them - are just wheels in the cog.

Pale Force Adventure Game

Need a mental break. Play Pale Force Adventure Game from the brilliant and distrubing minds of the Conan O'Brian writers. With theme songs and all.

Have fun.

Second Life: Jim Said It, Not I

I work with some folks who are all about Second Life. Go on it Saturday nights, spend their working hours on it and such. To each there own, but I've got to say from my own brief experience (yes, I created an SL avator - I was a bit forced into the process - thanks Katie!) Second Life isn't so great. It's slow and there's not much to do. Heck, I just went shopping. Which in all honesty, I actually prefer doing in person much more than in Second Life. And there aren't a lot or in some cases any people around to even meet. Which I thought was one of the original principals of the Second Life exeperience. And with social networks being so hip right now (my 45 year old single godfather is even on Facebook) you think that Second Life would be desperately trying to foster social networking.

Second Life's numbers are even out of whack. How many people downloaded Second Life once and maybe logged back on once or twice to never go back again. I know that's me and I know that I've personally crossed paths with quite a few of these people. I love their honest reponses - "It's so slow," "I didn't know where to start," "It was a time suck." Now, that's what I would expect the average online joe to say.

So, cheers to The Office for calling a spade a spade. Case closed.

Ghostland Observatory

My friend was just a first time published contributor to PSFK. Trey and Jeff Squires wrote a piece on the loss of rockstar mystique. They cited one band that potentially still delivers the "What the f is up with them and how can I be more like them."

A piece that does bring to the forefront a topic I never even considered. With the over-exposure of celebrity and the ability to know more about their personal lives and behaviors, the mystique of the once untouchable, ethereal figure of "celebrity" is a bit lost is not gone. Only non-celebrities can keep a mystique. I question how anyone who goes from being a "I think I know that guy" to an "Everyone knows that guy" can have a mystique.

Great Ambient Creative

Awesome ambient work from MCBD in the UK for the Met Police.



They made a replica of a prison cell that was toured around venues in the five boroughs of London where gun crime is most prevalent within black communities.

The prison cell enabled young people to get a real perspective on what it would be like to be in a prison cell, challenging them to think about all the things they will leave behind if they end up in prison.

I'd beat my dollars that this creative execution had an impact on the audience. Memorable for sure.

Likemind 11/30

Next Austin Likemind is on Friday 11/30 @ Genuine Joe's.

Note the change in location. Last month it was a wee bit chilly for drinking coffee outside, so this month we're using our noggin and we're taking it indoors just in case the temperature drops a little.

In January, we'll be back to normal schedules. Likemind is normally held every 3rd Friday.

Freelance Opportunities?

I'm looking to take on some new freelance gigs.

I have both account planning and connection planning knowledge, am a QRC trained moderator, Simmons segmentation expert (developed US Sony CE segmentation) and know how to utilize many various secondary research resources.

Worked on multiple Effie award winning projects, the 2006 Campaign of the Year and a few Yahoo! Purple Chair winning campaigns.

Austin Jelly 11/15

Trend Alert: Jelly

Jelly is a casual co-working environment that started in NYC February 2006 when roommates Amit and Luke realized that they loved working from home, but they missed the creative brainstorming, sharing, and camaraderie of a traditional office.

So they started inviting friends to come work from their home one day a week. They soon found that working in close proximity to new and interesting people every couple weeks resulted in new ideas and interesting conversations. From here, Jelly was born.

Jelly is this casual co-working atmosphere (without the office politics - sweet!). And Austin's 2nd Jelly will be on 11/15. See you there.

Get Smashed

It arrived! Stories from the authentic Madmen. Get Smashed - the book highlighting the Golden Era of advertising from the 1960s - 1980s. When there was no question who creating the creative and the boob tube was the media and creative answer every time. The Big Idea was around telling a brand story while illustrating consumer benefits and features. A life when we in the biz were much wealthier, more influential and took on larger addictions. Dirt for Admen.

Fail Harder

Sam Beckett, thanks to my personalized iGoogle, had an inspirational quote that ad folks should take to heart: "Go on failing. Go on. Only next time, try to fail better."

Reminds me of Weiden + Kennedy's Fail Harder project (granted this was a little cheesy, but worth a note).

CALL TO ARMS. SAVE THE BRANDS.

Alert! Read Immediately and Pass Along to All Caring Citizens of the World.

BRANDS ARE BEING SILENCED

Brands have personalities and marketers are silencing their voice, emotions and behaviors. Bad people are trying to make many brands of the world act and say things that aren't authentic to the brand's spirit - in effect, suffocating them. We must join forces to help give brands back their voice!

This is serious stuff. Before we know it, all brands will be extinct. They will be killed off by greedy marketers who only care about the bottom line and NOT the consumer experience. Brands will be commoditized into just being products with features with NO authentic brand personality or voice. They will be contrived. Just like robots.

Is this what you want? Is this the kind of world you envision your children living in? One without the joy of counting on a Fred water in your time of dryness or refreshing your home with a pump of Method cleaning soap! These are 2 brands that have honorable protectors and I call on them and other caring citizens to help raise the awareness of this serious national crisis.

The time is now.

I'm calling on all good people of the world to help me on this new mission to help Save The Brands. Pandas and redwoods are not the only things worth saving. So are the Saabs, AOLs, Jaguars, Gaps and Dells of the world.

Consumers - we must join together and make these marketers aware that brands are worth preserving and saving just like the pandas of the world or our national parks. Brands are like people and they deserve to live happily and, in today's day and age, a little more freely. Give them back their personalities and let them breathe! Stop suffocating them by making them feature heavy. They are more than just features. They have real, emotional benefits to offer us, the consumers of the world. Brands have authentic personalities and they can make you smile, cry, scream, feel comforted. And now, more than ever - they need our help!!!

If you have a great brand, marketing it becomes easy and obvious. The brand's personality will lead you to the right distribution channels, the right marketing channels, the right tonality and the right messaging at the right times.

In the next few weeks I will start activating this movement and I am calling on you, good people of the websphere - and specifically, you, Mr./Ms. Brand Planner - to join the movement. Stay posted, spread the Save The Brands Movement to other concerned citizens and get prepared to join the crusade!

Visit SavetheBrands.org in the near future to make your mark on the world and help the brands regain their voice and actions.

Goosebumps

One last creative inspiration for today. This time from Construction and Audi. I do miss working on Audi - fantastic client and amazing products. Back on track - view this new spot for the Audi R8. Unlike most other car adverts out there. Gives you goosebumps and draws you into the process of the automotive building process.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

And I'm on a Sony Bravia kick today. A Fallon UK spot - Paint. Another fun TV spot messaging Bravia's amazing color benefit.

This blog entry though is about something even better - a consumer's response to the Paint spot. It's great. The sincerest form of flattery is imitation and participation and what more could you ask for as a marketer than having your consumer freely participate with your ad campaign. Sony is a lucky company and this Brit is fun to watch. Enjoy the spoof.

New Sony Bravia Spot - This Time From Y&R Singapore

Great new Sony Bravia spot done by Y&R Singapore. True to the brand and plays off Fallon UK's original Bravia work. Brilliant and fun. Makes me love my Sony HD even more - the color is ahhhhhh.....amazing.