Hasta La Creative!

Retail is the point of decision in consumer marketing. When a person stands before a product in the store, it’s decision time. The same holds true for people placing products in an online Shopping Cart. Will the shopper abandon or will she purchase? These are fundamental questions for the country’s greatest retailers to address on […]

The post Brilliant of Reckless? Nordstrom Local Is A Store With No Clothes. appeared first on Adpulp.

Although I’ve done some copywriting for a couple of different cruise lines, I’d never actually taken a cruise until my recent trip to Alaska on Carnival Cruise Lines. And I have to say, it was quite an experience, both as passenger and someone endlessly fascinated with travel marketing. Allow me to share some random observations: […]

The post Carnival Steers Its Brand Nicely Through Choppy Marketing Waters appeared first on AdPulp.

Paul Burke, a freelance copywriter and novelist, thinks advertising is no longer funny. He knows what of he speaks, and he knows why. “A client erring on the side of caution is like a pope erring on the side of Catholicism,” he argues in Campaign. In other words, you need to take substantial risks to […]

The post What Are You Laughing At? appeared first on AdPulp.

Content marketing has been around since John Deere started a magazine for farmers in the late 19th century. For the past 10 to 12 years, the discipline has come back with a furry, as digital reawakened the opportunity in long-form brand and multi-platform storytelling. The changes have been disruptive, and many clients and agencies continue […]

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The citizens of Israel are due to vote tomorrow. Will they vote for peacekeepers or hawks? Millions of people around the world are hoping it’s a vote* for peace. In the run up to the election, The Parents Circle Families Forum—an organization of Palestinian and Israeli families who have lost a family member to the […]

The post Much More Than Political Careers at Stake in Israel’s Election appeared first on AdPulp.

Titles are superficial. And like so many superficial things, we cling to them dearly. Particularly so in the ego industries where a director is someone with a seat and a say. Hey, I get it. It makes sense. When it takes you 15 years to make it to creative director, you want to revel in […]

The post Will The Real Experience Designer Please Stand Up? appeared first on AdPulp.

When I worked on the Coors business at Integer back in the day, the brewery provided a lot of perks, primarily in the form of baseball, basketball, hockey and concert tickets. Broncos tickets were above my pay scale at the time.

Not surprisingly, the King of Beers plays the perks game at an even higher level.

According to NJ.com, Bud Light is leasing the 146,000-ton Norwegian Getaway for Super Bowl weekend 2014. The brand plans to use the ship as a floating hotel for 4,000 weekend guests.

At this time, the ship is still under construction in Germany. It’s scheduled to arrive in New York Jan. 26. The big game will be played February 2nd at MetLife Stadium. The game is being billed as “the first outdoor cold weather Super Bowl.”

Sadly, Joe Six-Pack won’t be able to book a room on the party boat — rooms are reserved for Bud Light VIPs, including key distributors and retailers.

David Daniels, marketing director for Bud Light speaking to ROI said, “An experience like this drives brand health and equity, and that will translate into sales long-term.”

You might wonder why a B2B event like this would impact sales. In beer, as in many things, you need shelf space at retail. No shelf space, no sales.

The post Bud Light To Anchor 4000-Room Party Boat in NYC for Super Bowl XLVIII VIPs appeared first on AdPulp.

To compete with the recent wave of extreme pranks from marketers, Toronto agency john st. has launched their own exFEARiential marketing division. Muggings, carjackings, riots – there’s nothing they won’t do to get their client’s brands noticed.

I love how there is no disclaimer at the end of this video, and two “client” videos for further viewing. It makes you wonder if john st. is serious. Although the question here is not, “Is john st. serious?” The question is are the agencies and brands pulling very real stunts on unsuspecting people, serious?

Last month, Luke Sullivan wagered that he’s “not the only one who hates this crap.”

I’ve told several friends how much I hate these fear-producing stunts, and some of my buddies just tell me to shut up and get over it. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe I’ve become the old guy on his porch shakin’ his fist and yellin’ “Now you kids git offa my lawn!”

The ad industry is already thought by many to be a manipulative shell game played by semi-skilled hucksters. Why in the world would we–the ad people of the world–add to this negative public perception with even more manipulative crap?

Are the perpetrators here really that careless, arrogant, and operating with a total lack of respect for the consumer and knowledge about what works?

Clients want to sell their products or services, and they want their communications to create long term brand value while simultaneously driving purchase consideration. It’s fair to ask if live stunts that capture the imagination in a disruptive way do either.

The post john st. Takes Experiential To A Darker Place appeared first on AdPulp.

Music moves people. Live music moves people deeply. The experience lingers for days, weeks, sometimes for years.

Naturally, brand marketers would love to gain some of this attention for their own purposes, and increasingly they’re turning to experiential marketing to deliver. Which is why it is not surprising to learn that WPP has ponied up $10 million for a share of SFX Entertainment, media mogul Robert F.X. Sillerman’s recently revived company (he sold the company to Clear Channel for $4.4 billion in 2000).

In January, SFX Entertainment purchased the North American division of Holland-based ID&T Entertainment, the world’s largest dance music concert promoter.

Here is footage from 2012′s Tommorowland event in Belgium:

SFX also owns nightclubs and music download store, Beatport.

WPP “recognizes the power of dance music to coalesce and address an increasingly difficult-to-reach audience,” Mr. Sillerman said.

Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, compared the move to WPP’s investments in Vice, the Weinstein Company and others.

“Sillerman’s been extremely successful in consolidating fragmented industries which have untapped growth potential that generally have excellent marketing opportunities attached to them,” said Mike Principe, a former SFX attorney who is now CEO of The Legacy Agency. “He goes in, acquires en masse, and enjoys a leading position.”

The post Can Brands Dance? Sir Martin Says Yes appeared first on AdPulp.

When I review books here on AdPulp, I don’t talk about whether I like a book or don’t like it, or whether it’s well-written or not. I simply try to answer the question, “What would AdPulp readers learn by reading this book?” With that mind, I confess: I simply don’t know what to make of Brian Solis’ new book, What’s The Future Of Business? Changing The Way Businesses Create Experiences.

I’ve reviewed Solis’ other books, and there’s always plenty of material to chew on that reflects current marketing theory. This time around, we get an introduction to “Generation C” (for “connected”), a sales cycle centered around various “Moments of Truth,” as well as a large heaping of adapt-or-die imperatives for companies that aren’t putting customer needs first. But really, it’s nothing anyone who’s picked up a Fast Company magazine hasn’t read 100 times before.

The “experiences” Solis talks about creating are primarily rooted in all things digital, social, and mobile. There’s a lovely bit of irony here for all of Solis’ digital-centric preachings: The old-school, dead-tree, hardcover edition is fairly slick and well-designed for print. A square-sized book, with large inspirational quotes, infographics, and a nice selection of Hugh MacLeod cartoons. There’s plenty of eye candy to explain how Solis envisions customer-brand connections, 2013-style. The content might make for a dynamic presentation in Projeqt but hardcover books still seem more impressive these days, I suppose.

And what’s lost in the engagement/experience/empowerment/disruption buzzword bingo is a real answer to the question, “What’s the Future of Business?” Because once you think outside the social media bubble Solis focuses on, the future looks quite complex and cloudy: Globalization, product customization, strained natural resources, re- and de-regulation of industries, downward pricing pressures on businesses, and cash-strapped consumers don’t get much attention here.

All Solis ever seems to say is that the future is rapidly changing, and that’s nothing new. If you’re working in a company where reaching customers in today’s market is a constant battle, and your organization’s leaders seem truly lost, you might try floating some of Solis’ thinking with his charts and graphs to support you. “What’s The Future of Business” will give you a lot of jargon-laden ammunition that might either make you sound convincing or get laughed out of the room. You’ll have to see for yourself which one it’ll be.

Special thanks for FSB Associates for providing me with a review copy.

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