Hasta La Creative!

LONDON –
Diageo, home to drinks brands Bailey’s and Archers, has handed its estimated €20m (£17m) media planning and buying business in the Republic of Ireland to Initiative, following a competitive pitch.

LONDON – Guardian Media Group’s MEN Media has withdrawn its part-free, part-paid for daily, the Manchester Evening News, from ABC auditing and will instead publish its own circulation figures.

OK. What is it with today? Are all you marketers trying to make me drown in emotional depression?

When a high-profile athlete is signed in a new city, the debate is usually about the level of the athletic impact on the team. In this case, most of the verbal fire — with good reason — is around the fact that Michael Vick abused animals. Web sites to rally people against the recently-released-from-jail QB, such as www.sackvick.net and www.petsitusa.com/blog/, are certainly getting increased visibility now. And several polls taken by local Philadelphia news organizations revealed that most of the people in the Philly area are opposed to the Vick signing, while Eagles fans, specifically, are split right down the middle. So it begs the question: can Michael Vick ever be a spokesperson again, or is he forever toxic?

It’s really difficult to write about something as frivolous as an underwear commercial after having viewed a much more substantial, emotionally-charged campaign for safe driving

Em sua próxima edição, a revista Wired vai contar a história de Matthew Alan Sheppard, 42 anos, um gerente de segurança e saúde ambiental que trabalhava na Eaton. Sheppard tinha um casamento feliz e uma filha de 7 anos de idade, família com a qual vivia em uma confortável casa em Searcy, no Arkansas.

Coordenando mais de 30 filiais da Eaton entre a América do Norte e do Sul, Sheppard logo teve um aumento, o que elevou seu salário para perto dos 6 dígitos. Para seus colegas, Matthew Sheppard parecia um cara amigável e com uma carreira em expansão.

Acontece que com sua promoção na empresa, Sheppard passou a sentir o stress das novas responsabilidades e viagens frequentes. Em pouco tempo ele engordou, chegando a 135 kg, e viu sua saúde financeira entrar no vermelho.

Amante de gadgets, gastava mais do que ganhava com produtos eletrônicos, e começou a colocar todas as suas despesas pessoais no cartão de crédito corporativo. De refeições a bebidas nas baladas, da lavanderia as férias da família, tudo entrava na conta da Eaton.

Em fevereiro de 2008, quando a empresa enviou um email para Sheppard questionando tais despesas, ele resolveu planejar sua fuga. Sheppard forjou a própria morte, e iria esperar sua esposa receber o dinheiro do seguro para abrir uma fábrica de tequila no México, iniciando assim uma nova vida, uma nova identidade.

A história não terminou como ele planejava, e Sheppard acabou preso. 10 anos por roubo e fraude no seguro.

O que a Wired quer provar é que, com a quantidade de informações e bancos de dados sobre a vida das pessoas nos dias de hoje, é praticamente impossível conseguir fugir de si mesmo. Todo passo que você dá, toda ligação que você faz, toda a transação comercial realizada, tudo fica registrado em algum lugar.

Para mostrar na prática, o jornalista Evan Ratliff, que escreveu a matéria sobre Matthew Sheppard, também desapareceu. Deixou amigos, família e trabalho, e desafiou os leitores da revista a rastrearem seus passos.

Ratliff sumiu no dia 15 de agosto, e vai ficar escondido por 30 dias. Ninguém, nem mesmo os editores da Wired, sabem onde ele está. Ratliff vai continuar online regularmente, usando Facebook e Twitter.

Todas as informações que um investigador teria, os interessados em encontrar o jornalista terão no site wired.com/vanish. Atividades bancárias, ligações telefônicas, etc. “Isso claro, se eu for tolo o bastante para usar essas coisas”, avisa Ratliff.

Ele vai continuar nos EUA, em lugar comum, de convívio social, e o prazo para encontra-lo é 15 de setembro. Quem achar deve tirar uma foto, dizer a senha “fluke”, e esperar pelo segundo código em resposta. Aí então basta mandar a foto com a nova senha para o editor nicholas_thompson@wired.com.

O vencedor do desafio, ou seja, quem encontrar Evan Ratliff, ganha 5 mil dólares e uma matéria na Wired para contar como foi todo o processo investigativo. Além de ser uma iniciativa curiosa e ousada, mostra até onde uma publicação pode ir para promover seu trabalho e provar suas teorias.

Se quiser saber mais sobre o concurso, tem tudo no wired.com/vanish. E para acompanhar em detalhes como Matthew Sheppard tentou desaparecer do mundo (e foi encontrado pela polícia), leia a matéria do jornalista, agora, também desaparecido.

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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This is hilarious. American Copywriter has put together, in chronological order, a series of online ads for the free online video game, Evony.

If there are two things Americans don’t like, it’s paying taxes and not being the best at something we invented. Unfortunately, the government’s recent takeover of  General Motors handed us both of these bitter pills. As a result,  the GM brand has suffered tremendous damage, with many people being openly hostile towards the company.

Is it right for us to direct our anger at GM for not recognizing the changing auto market? Sure. Is it productive? No.

As painful as it may be for some to hear, now that “We the People of the United States of America” own a 61% share of General Motors, it’s in all of our best interests that the company succeeds. Part of that success will come from GM’s future marketing efforts.

On August 11th, at a GM press event, Vice Chairman Bob Lutz talked about the changes that are coming to GM marketing, his opinions on GM’s current commercials, and his desire to address the perception of a quality gap between GM and foreign cars.

Quoting from the Detroit Free Press:

Bob Lutz, in his new role as GM’s chief creative guru, already is shaking up advertising and marketing to close what he has long argued is a huge gap between the quality of GM cars and trucks and the public perception of them.

Asked how advertising will change, he contrasted a current Buick ad — one he doesn’t like — with a new Chevy ad.

The “Photo Shoot” TV commercial, which shows a Buick LaCrosse and an Enclave and a snooty film director at a fashion model pool party, reminds Lutz of old GM ads when its products weren’t so good.

“There was a natural tendency,” he said, “to do charming stories of the family washing the car and the kids putting the beach balls in the back, to give the viewer a kind of a warm feeling. That’s one type of advertising, and you’re going to see way less of that.”

By contrast, Lutz likes a new Chevy spot in which ex-football star Howie Long compares the fuel economy of several Chevy models favorably with Hondas, before cutting to a Honda product GM can’t compete with — a lawnmower. Lutz said the ad dispels “this commonly held myth that in every category the Japanese are the masters of fuel economy, when in fact they’re not.”

Here’s the commercial Bob Lutz doesn’t like.

Unfortunately, I cannot post the commercial Bob Lutz does like without a “written approval from GM.” But here it is via YouTube.

I agree with Lutz’s ad strategy, but it’s a strategy that should have been implemented a decade ago when fuel-efficient imports first started hitting the roads. Nevertheless, it’s no use looking in the rear-view mirror (automobile pun intended).

As an American taxpayer, you’re part-owner of the company. What do you think of the spots? Is Bob Lutz right to gear GM marketing away from high concept ads and toward direct comparisons?

Rob Frappier is a marketing copywriter and blogger working in the social media sphere. To reach Rob, visit his blog, or follow him on Twitter.

Some women (oops. excuse us, PC police, some people) will take any chance they can get to score a discount on the latest in fashion.

Fritz & Stephen, after the Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments have released this sticky note experiments. Beautiful experiments Advertiser: Sticky Note