Long enough to cover it, short enough to be interesting.
Lifted from this post by @saraeleta
Brand new look. Same great taste.
Welcome to the relaunch of AskACopywriter.com.
From here out, @AskACopywriter will be dedicated to this blog. And I should start posting more than once a month again (although I do have a few other big goals to tackle this year.)
(I’ve also moved my portfolio to BrandWriter.com and my personal Twitter handle is now @BrandWriter.)
I started this blog as a joke during a status meeting in 2006. I was giving dating advice to an Account Exec. and he said that I should have an advertising advice column. So I turned to my laptop and registered the url.
Then I started posting pictures of ads that caught my eye – and after awhile, people actually started emailing me questions like I knew what I was talking about.
It's never felt right to post them since most contained surprisingly candid personal details. But they generally fall into three categories:
- How do I get a job in advertising?
- Is this good enough to put in my book?
- What should I do, read or don't do to get better?
So now I’m working on some answers I feel good about post publicly and want to share what I’ve learned (and am still learning) about doing this job well.
I hope you keep emailing me questions – or jump in with the hashtag #askaCW.
Thanks, Brian
What was your favorite Super Bowl spot?
It was the year of cars again this year. My favorite spot was Chrysler’s Halftime in America. Great writing and Clint Eastwood VO.
I also really liked the Chevrolet apocalypse spot, until the forced jab at Ford.
I wanted to love Honda’s Matthew’s Day Off, but I can’t get past that it’s about the actor not the Ferris character. The online teaser actually hurt this one.
These weren’t my favs, but best online extension goes to Chevy Sonic’s LetsDoThis.com and Jack In The Box’s MarryBacon.com
2012 was also the year of dog (and there were some real dogs in the mix, looking at you Doritos) but after their platinum duds, Bud Light’s rescue dog tie-in was a welcome change.
And then there was Cars.com, which I’d actually put it in the middle of the pack.
I’m only including it here because lots of folks tweeted that the ad was inspired by Men in Black II…
…but I thought of How to Get Ahead in Advertising.
(If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and buy it now.)
Of course, the bottom of the barrel was GoDaddy, who were out-sexed by Telaflora and Fiat.
It’s also time for e-Trade to retire the baby. But I like how Fidelity stuck it to them them with a promoted tweet.
I also really liked the Chevrolet apocalypse spot, until the forced jab at Ford.
I wanted to love Honda’s Matthew’s Day Off, but I can’t get past that it’s about the actor not the Ferris character. The online teaser actually hurt this one.
These weren’t my favs, but best online extension goes to Chevy Sonic’s LetsDoThis.com and Jack In The Box’s MarryBacon.com
2012 was also the year of dog (and there were some real dogs in the mix, looking at you Doritos) but after their platinum duds, Bud Light’s rescue dog tie-in was a welcome change.
And then there was Cars.com, which I’d actually put it in the middle of the pack.
I’m only including it here because lots of folks tweeted that the ad was inspired by Men in Black II…
…but I thought of How to Get Ahead in Advertising.
(If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and buy it now.)
Of course, the bottom of the barrel was GoDaddy, who were out-sexed by Telaflora and Fiat.
It’s also time for e-Trade to retire the baby. But I like how Fidelity stuck it to them them with a promoted tweet.
Need a last minute gift idea?
OxfamGifts.com makes it easy to donate something tangible to fight hunger, poverty and social injustice. And you get a card with a photograph of the object you’re donating to give as a gift.
Or how about a threadless t-shirt benefiting Unicef?
Designed by NeedsForSale.com, each shirt costs the exact donation Unicef needs to deliver the object pictured on the shirt – from an $18.57 mosquito net up to a $300,000 cargo flight.
What's wrong with flashing your briefs once in a while?
"Your brief is showing" is a piece of criticism meaning that your ad is too heavy-handed or is just a literal repetition of the strategy. Instead your goal should be to an interesting spin on the key message of the brief.
The line “14 buttons replaced by your body” may sound flat on it’s own and probably wouldn’t work in print. But on a mirror cling, it brings a unique product feature to life.
(This December, I'm posting all the ads I never got around to earlier this year. Stay tuned.)
Can luxury be practical?
(This December, I'm posting all the ads I never got around to earlier this year. Stay tuned.)
Can you sell it in 7 words or less?
That's the rule of thumb for the maximum number of words you can have on a billboard. (We need to implement a similar rule for banner ads.)
Here's another play on words that works for me. But I may be bias, I’ve long been an admirer of Mini Cooper’s ads.
Is this the most interesting campaign in the world?
It's not easy to extend a great radio campaign into print.
I like how Dos Equis pulls in off in this campaign better than their first.
(Feeling at home ad via Global Graphica.)
(Release form ads via @Todd_McLellan and Ban Billboard Blight.)
(Approach women ads via Dosage and Ms. Magazine.)
(This December, I'm posting all the ads I never got around to earlier this year. Stay tuned.)
How do you get people talking about your brand?
Shiner bock put web cams inside bars and posts the resulting videos on their site.
Ok, so most people aren't actually sharing their "favorite Shiner Bock story." But they are having a lot of fun.
You can see for yourself at BockLove.com.
Need a drink?
May I recommend local favorite Deep Eddy Vodka?
I’m not a tea drinker, but I do enjoy their Sweet Tea Vodka.
Their branding is pretty tasty too.
(Bottle, billboard and banner pics via their Facebook page.)
Their branding is pretty tasty too.
(This December, I'm posting all the ads I never got around to earlier this year. Stay tuned.)
Are you making the most of the medium?
(This December, I'm posting all the ads I never got around to earlier this year. Stay tuned.)
Is this the greatest print ad ever produced?
I can't believe I never got around to posting this back in March. (This December, I'm posting all the ads I never got around to earlier this year. Stay tuned.)
Why write copy you don't intend for people to read?
Ads that use words as a purely decorative design element usually don’t work for me.
But these consecutive page ads caught my eye.
You can see a clean shot of the ads as a spread here.
(This December, I'm posting all the ads I never got around to earlier this year. Stay tuned.)
Is it still a bad ad if it grabs your attention?
Probably the same reason everyone stares at a car wreck as they drive past.
(This December, I'm posting all the ads I never got around to earlier this year. Stay tuned.)
Who says your best advertising has to be an ad?
But as a Dad, I think this may be the best piece of marketing they’ve ever done.
(This December, I'm posting all the ads I never got around to earlier this year. Stay tuned.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)