We love how, when everyone’s going in one direction, someone chooses to head in the other.
Like this spot for the Florida Keys. Simple. Memorable.
What’s your favorite twist?
live it out
November 25, 2009 by lindabutton
Whether you’re talking business or personal style, standing out takes balls. And the ballsiest person I know is 88 year old Iris Apfel. Iris is outrageous, down to earth, and can count herself among the ranks of art geniuses.
Her medium? Clothes.
Don’t laugh. Art museums around the country are showing her work, including NY’s Met and the Peabody Essex Museum. Last month we promoted her extraordinary exhibit on radio.
Now, meet Iris…
“Live it out!” Iris tells us. It’s true in life as well as business. The first question to ask is: Do you have the guts to be truly distinctive? All it takes is some balls and maybe a boa.
a fitting experience
November 19, 2009 by Marilyn Kass
The movie Amelia starring Hillary Swank opened to mixed reviews this month. However, that didn’t stop the NYC discount retail chain Daffy’s from turning it into a hit.
Before the screening of the film at the Ziegfeld Theater in Midtown Manhattan, a music video became the genesis of an experiential ad for the retailer.
Dancers on the screen were upstaged by dancers on the stage as all the performers acted out how shoppers try on clothes in “Fitting Dance”.
Find your fans and create an experience that delights them. Zappos does it with customer service, Daffy surprised the Ziegfeld crowd and T-mobile rocked a crowded train station.
Ask yourself how your brand can bring joy to your customers, then ask your customers for their business.
We’d love to know what groups you’ve been thrilled with and why. Is there an agency, a freelancer or a consultant that over delivers and is rewarded with your loyalty? Do tell.
M
the real work of brands
November 14, 2009 by lindabutton
Tomorrow I lead 25 TV executives through an all-day brand workshop in Dubai at the DMI studios.
We’ve never met, but already I know this: they’re managers, directors, art directors, and producers. They’re young, creative, opinionated, curious, and ambitious.They’ll be shy at first, and open up as the day goes on. We will laugh and disagree, we may have misunderstandings.
By the end of the day, they will amaze me.
We spend a lot of time preparing our workshops: pulling examples, creating exercises, and laying out the concepts that make brands work.
But the miracle always happens in the team work. When the language of the day isn’t job titles or meetings. It’s ideas. When people jump in and try things out. When they don’t fear failure.
What will amaze me tomorrow? I can’t wait to find out.
What’s your best workshop experience?
our favorite ‘lil spot this week
November 10, 2009 by lindabutton
Life these days is all about first impressions; 5-10 seconds and you’re summed up. That’s what the researchers, psychologists, and HR directors across the country will tell you. Everyone does it - we can’t help ourselves.
Our fave spot this week suggests things aren’t always as they appear.
everything I know about social marketing I learned from my taekwondo master.
November 2, 2009 by lindabutton
Grandmaster Kim may not tweet or post his favorite kicks on Facebook. But he has mastered Social Media and, in the process, built an internationally recognized school, Jae H. Kim Taekwondo Institute.
하나
Build Community
The school, a stone’s throw from Fenway Park, plays host to Korean surgeons, clerks from Ethiopia, French chefs, and students from Boston University. But, in uniforms and bare feet, we’re members of the same tribe, thanks to the community that Mr. Kim has built.
He hosts an annual holiday luncheon, expects every black belt to teach other students, and encourages us to visit sister schools around the world. Jet-lagged in Singapore, I still found a home and welcoming instructors at the JHK dojang.
This year Master Kim is throwing a Hanmadang to celebrate the school’s 35th anniversary. Visitors from the other schools will come for a day of competition, showmanship, demonstrations, songs, and, yes, eating.
Think about the communities in your company. Are they welcoming? Passionate? Open and well organized?
둘
Tell your story
A beautifully hand-painted scroll, a gift to Mr. Kim from the founder of Taekwon Do, General Choi, greets everyone who enters the dojang.
In the visitor’s area, next to the cushy sofas, are booklets packed with moments from the school’s history. Events like the “Friday Night Fights” and the showdown between Mr. Kim and his top 3 students against a competing school, are told with full relish.
The message is clear to every member, you’re part of something great.
Story fills your brand up with meaning. It lets consumers know they’re part of something more than a business transaction. So, what’s your story?
셋
Keep talking and tinkering
Every week Master Kim sends emails updating members on the school. He’s not a chatty guy; every email is an enclosure and written formally. Mr. Kim changes up class schedules and shifts the focus every year to reflect student input. He takes risks on a daily basis.
Embracing change every day in your business may seem overwhelming. But, just like a turning sidekick, exercise those muscles and it becomes fluid.
Are you ready to kick your social marketing up a level. What are great examples in your own life?
let’s talk
October 23, 2009 by lindabutton
We’ve talked about conversational writing. Now, let’s talk conversation. Part 4 of our Write With Balls session (from Promax/BDA) is all about getting the dialogue going.
Imagine running to a train when, suddenly, other commuters break into a fox trot. What would you do? I’d take a picture and call my friends. That’s what T-mobile hoped for–and they turned it into a viral video that circled the globe.
January 20th. I was sitting in front of the TV, laptop open and, while several million huddled together in the Washington, I was with all my friends watching the event with CNN and Facebook.
It didn’t matter that all the comments flying by were just a virutal version of “Can you believe this is happening?”
The ability to connect with my friends and strangers made a great moment even more memorable. And it was a perfect fit for CNN’s brand.
Finally, this spring, I felt like the world had taken a weird turn when I saw this video on youtube. But of course it was part of another massive plan. This time for True Blood, a revolutionary and virtual ad campaign.
Shared moments, virtual moments, vampire moments: They’re different sides of the same subway token. Kind of crazy, totally exciting and here we are with the best seat in the house, witnessing this new frontier.
What’s your favorite shared moment?
a song, a message, a movement
October 17, 2009 by Marilyn Kass
It was a tremendous conference. Presenters from all corners of the globe and I was honored to be among them; marketers, designers, even a futurist with a fabulous accent. Still, the highlight for me were the attendees; passionate, gracious and hungry for information.
With the conference over I said good bye to colleagues and friends, and welcomed my family who flew in from Boston.
Back in my hotel room we watched the DVD of the previous evenings award show winners. All the winners were inventive and shared world-class production values but one campaign was more than branding.
Channel O aspires to be an Original African music channel that delivers world class content. Its ‘Young Gifted and Black’ campaign as its Facebook fan page announces is nothing short of ambitious.
“It’s a song. It’s a message. It’s a movement. Join up and Wear it Loud!”.
Taking impetus from the 1970 Nina Simone song ‘To Be Young, Gifted and Black’ the network created a music video, a fully integrated ad campaign, a T shirt contest, and full range of 2.0 efforts that celebrate the musical talent that is found in Africa, both historic and current.
We began the day walking through Soweto where I struggled to digest the horrors of apartheid. It’s too fresh to even be called history, apartheid is a current event. We ended the day watching the YGB music video and the FB fan page was not ambitious it was right. It’s a song. It’s a message. It’s a movement. And, it is as current and relevant as any campaign I’ve seen.
The music video below.
What do you think?
uncorking ideas
October 15, 2009 by Marilyn Kass
It’s spring in Johannesburg and if that’s not enough to put a smile on my face, new friends and fantastic wine does.
Preparing another session of Write With Balls, this time for Promax/BDA Africa and I turn on the TV. What’s on in the southern hemisphere? Plenty of channels and a familiar line-up; Discovery, Nat Geo, Cartoon, and CNN. But I watch for the ads.
So, how does Coke talk to its customers? With music of course. There’s a detergent for doing laundry in a bucket vs a washing machine.
Plus ads for a very special kind of bra. Well, not exactly a bra — something you wear over a bra. These print ads show you what you need to know.
More from Jo-burg in a day or two. In the meantime do you ever turn the TV on when you travel, if so what do you like? I once saw a game show in Italy that was over the top. You?
learn the lingo 2
September 23, 2009 by lindabuttonWelcome to another excerpt of Write with Balls, our creativity session fresh from the television marketing conference of Promax/BDA. And thanks to our fans for their cheerful prompting.
We’ve talked about fresh, conversational writing (learn the lingo 1).
Now let’s talk the flip side: clichés.
When you write for TV, clichés lurk under every ad.
Clichés are safe, familiar grooves for our brains. Trouble is, they’re so comfortable they become invisible. Death for getting your ad noticed.
We say, clichés: if you can’t beat them, beat them up. Give them a twist. Apply them in unexpected ways. Make your audience wake up and go “Huh?” and then smile.
Here’s a great, snarky example from Animal Planet.
Short and funny; Animal Planet gives us the entire attitude of the show in seven words.
‘Course, if you want a whole rat’s nest of clichés, go no further than soap operas.
Evil twins. Amnesia. The big bad diva.
Watch how this Canadian channel sums up a lifetime in one name.
This next spot comes from MTV Asia. It works as a pun. Puns, incidentally, are the evil twin of clichés. For me, MTV pulls it off. What do you think?
The ending is blunt and clear and, even better, speaks the language of the audience.
What’s your best technique for fresh writing?
