September 27, 2016

Advertising Awards Don’t Matter

Sure they don’t.

That’s why, last year, agencies submitted over 40,000 entries to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The American Advertising Federation’s three-tiered award program – called the ADDYs – generated another 40,000 entries. And, that’s just two of the big ones.
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December 1, 2015

Snuffing Out Tobacco Use, One Ad at a Time

If you’re like many people, you’ve been exposed to multiple anti-tobacco advertising campaigns over the years. One that may come to mind is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign which features real-life individuals who were former smokers that now live with the diseases and disabilities from it. You’ve probably also seen gruesome, graphic approaches to try to persuade someone to quit like a smokers lungs trying to breathe or a heart struggling to beat. These ads are memorable because of their provocative content and they way they command attention.

Asher works with several health and wellness-related organizations around the country (see our work here), so while we enjoy dissecting why a particular advertisement works, it’s also part of the job. Some elements we consider when looking at anti-tobacco campaigns include the visual aesthetics, personal hook and relevance, conveying facts in a meaningful way, and memorableness.

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November 4, 2015

The #1 YouTube Mistake Advertisers Make

I’m constantly amazed at the number of established brands that treat YouTube as an on-demand form of broadcast television. Spend any time browsing YouTube, and you’ll see their mistake repeatedly.

Your TV ad may be killer: beautifully shot, with witty copy and great music. But on YouTube, that matters only if your first five seconds are effective. Experienced YouTubers know why.

After the first five seconds, the link to “skip” becomes active. More often than not, I, and the majority of YouTubers, do exactly that and never give second thought to the ad we just left behind.

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October 15, 2015

If You Want to be Successful in the Ad Business…Part One

It’s almost impossible to go it alone in advertising. It is, after all, a collaborative business.

Part one focuses on developing partnerships that evolve into friendships. Let me illustrate a game of six-degrees-of-separation for a moment.

If I asked you who John Orr Young was, the response, most likely, would be a head scratch. But if I tell you he was an agency account guy who partnered with a talented writer named Raymond Rubicam? Well, you’d most likely get Young & Rubicam.

McCann had Erickson. Weiden, of course, is inextricably linked to Kennedy. The list goes on and on. Would they have succeeded on their own? Maybe. Would they have created such lasting legacies? Maybe not.

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October 3, 2015

The Importance of the IDEA FACTORY

Ideas are the lifeblood of our business.

I learned in my first year at a Washington, D.C., public and government relations shop that ideas generated from credible, insightful information and translated into creative, measurable strategy separated the pretenders from the ladder climbers. That is still the case!

I was fortunate 25 years ago when I moved from Capitol Hill public servant to communications and lobbying. My first boss was masterful at conceptualizing strategic tactics to advance clients’ priorities. One day he handed out T-shirts with the words “The Idea Factory” and a graphic featuring a large golden light bulb being pulled out of a factory by many smaller light bulbs, excited by their collaboration. Our company logo was featured on the large light bulb.

Since then I continue to strive to offer my clients the “big idea” that will help catapult them forward. Every consultant should focus on connecting the dots for clients and generating ideas that inspire, persuade and build lasting relationships.

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