V-v-v-v-v-v-v-v-video montage!

All On East 53rd Street

It's a street found in the South Side of Chicago in Hyde Park where fond memories of the current United States President Barack Obama fill the air and the minds of those who had the pleasure of knowing and frequently seeing him along this strip.

On East 53rd Street Obama's presence has been captured in the restaurants and shops where he was once a frequent customer as everyone tries to show that they have some link to this American icon.

Located at 1518 East 53rd Street is Valois Cafeteria where they have a special menu called President Obama's Favorite Foods which includes the top four

breakfasts he liked to order, and a signed picture of him is hung with pride on

the wall near the kitchen that says "To Valois, thanks for the great eats".

The Valois night manager, John Lathouris, spoke kindly of Obama and said

"We're very proud of him. He was a nice guy and a regular customer. We would

have never expected him to become the president but he made it."

Antonio, a barber at Hyde Park Hair Salon, says he always knew Obama was someone special. "Obama used to come in here every other week. If you knew him he had that personality that just demanded attention. He had a presence." Visiting this shop is like being at a museum. The chair where Obama used to sit is on display and covered in a glass casing for preservation.

Some changes have taken place on East 53rd Street since the days Obama roamed these parts. The Baskin-Robbins where Barack and his wife Michelle shared their first kiss is now a Subway restaurant and the building that housed the old barber shop is currently under construction forcing them to move down the street.

But there is one thing that remains a constant and will be hard to get rid of and that is the impact that Obama has had on the people in this neighbourhood.

"I think it's amazing that the president is someone from right here," said Robert, a sixteen year old boy who came up and tried to hit on me while I was sitting down taking notes, but I convinced him to talk to me about Obama instead. We ended up getting into a pretty deep discussion about life in general.

"Sometimes you could begin to feel like you're trapped in certain circumstances that you're in and there is not much you could do to have a better life or better yourself," said Robert, "but having an African American president gives you a

greater outlook on what is possible."

How not to market your marketing company

I'll admit, sometimes I pass the time by google searching 'offensive ads' or something along those lines. But this one is just weird. It's an advertising agency that is advertising itself with a photo of a dude who presumably just killed and cut up a woman he presumably just had sex with? Umm... I'm looking but definitely not seeing.

I've Come Full Circle

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for a fantastic year in the Ad major. I loved getting to work with each and every one of you and wish you all success in the future. Thanks as well to Kenton for being such a supportive and entertaining instructor. Yogurt will miss you.

My blog is a tad different than others. Kenton and I realized what a prime opportunity I had to write about Oprah for the blog, so I decided to go that route. After receiving the rules contract, I realized no quoting would be allowed. Thus, I give you the condensed basics of a trip to Oprah!

I woke up on Wednesday, April 8th with a giddy excitement running through me. It was a day unlike any other, that some wait their entire lives for – the day I would see Oprah live.

Now, love her or hate her, Oprah is still one of the richest and most talented women in the world. I’m sure you can understand my nervous sentiment as I prepared myself, to be in the audience, about 50 feet away from her.

Brenlee Coates, Megan Benedictson, and Kristy Rydz accompanied me on the journey to the show. When we arrived at Harpo Studios, we were greeted by a large line and a handsomely charming attendant, who led us inside. Once we made it through the ID check, coat check, and purse check (confiscation in my case), we were seated upstairs in the lounge. Amidst the sea of women lingered some supportive men, carefully working away at filling out waivers and show ideas.

After a 30-minute countdown to Oprah, the approximately 250 guests were herded down to the set. The stage is big and small all at once, so every seat in the house has a great view. Guests were directed to their seats and then pumped up by the studio producer. After such great build-up to Oprah, she literally just walked into the room. A standing ovation which followed seemed to last forever, and then she said we could be seated so the show could begin.

Wish I could give further details, but its best I let you tune in for the real thing sometime next season.

Obama Pride

As a Canadian it seems a bit silly that there is such an interest in the President of the United States and his family. Personally, I couldn’t care any less about our Prime Minister’s personal life.

Being in Obama’s hometown of Chicago last week only heightened my awareness of just how much he is loved.

Posters and photos of him can be seen all over town. No area I visited, however, could compare to Hyde Park.

Walking through the streets I couldn’t help but notice how many houses still had Barack Obama and Joe Biden signs in their front yards from the election. Even more homes and apartments proudly displayed the President’s portrait in their windows.

Hyde Park businesses were no different. Valois Cafeteria (1518 E 53rd Street), the last place Obama ate before heading off to Washington, D.C., has renamed Obama’s favourite breakfast Obama’s Breakfast.

A few blocks away on East 55th Street, the small store What the Traveller Saw had a life-size cardboard cut out of Obama tucked away beside a stand of nightlights, not to mention countless other items clad with Barack and Michelle Obama’s faces.

What The Traveller Saw is the store where the Ugly Doll that Sasha Obama has been spotted wearing on her backpack came from.

Store owner Laurel Stradford is extremely proud to have come from the same neighbourhood as Obama. “If you think we have a lot of Obama merchandise now, you should have seen it before. There’s really not much left” she said as I snapped photos of everything Obama.

Of the neighbourhood Stradford said “it is a really great place. Very forward-thinking.” She herself has travelled all over the world, but says that “Hyde Park is home.”

Back towards East 53rd Street, is Hyde Park Hair Salon, where Obama used to get his hair cut. One of the barbers informed me that “he’s not allowed to” get his hair cut there anymore. He quickly added that if he did though, he would just be another client. “Everyone who walks through those doors is just a client.”

The Obama collection at the Hyde Park Hair Salon had to of been the most impressive I collection I saw while in Chicago.

Obama’s barber Zariff (who had the day off the day of my visit), has a gorgeous photo of him cutting Obama’s hair, as well as another photo of him and another barber standing with Obama.

Walking into the shop, I was greeted by a black leather barber chair behind glass—signed by Barack Obama.

There were two plaques; one reads “this is our moment,” and the other reads “change we can believe in.” The rest of the entrance was filled with paintings and photos of the President.

Seeing and hearing so many people talk about Obama with such pride and admiration was actually very cool. It kind of made me wish Canadians felt that way about our Prime Minister.

Maybe some day.

Chicago outdoor advertising = not what I expected

Let me preface this entry by letting everyone know that this weekend Jason and I shall be posting a video on this blog from our trip to Chicago. We carried a camera around at all times and I believe we have truely captured the spirit of the trip. The video will be a montage of all the things we did during our stay, as well as a feature interview with a Chicago resident. I am sure you have all been eagerly anticipating the final result...

Video aside, I thought I would write about my impressions of advertising in Chicago. Having spent time in New York City the last three years, I have to say I was expecting a lot more. Everybody knows the gargantuan scale advertising takes on in Times Square, but it doesn't stop there. Anywhere I went in Manhattan I was bombarded by messages. There were billboards, murals, posters, ads painted on the sidewalks, anything you could think of. Anywhere a message could be placed, there was one.

Chicago has nearly 10 million people living in it. That is one-third of Canada. So when I walked down the Magnificent Mile, I was expecting to be hit in the face with piles of advertising. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was quite the opposite. I say pleasantly because while I may be a student of advertising, I still don't like being overrun by ads. I like being able to walk through a city, especially one with as much historical significance as Chicago, and appreciate it for its architectural beauty and culture, rather than be taken aback by the volume and scale of its advertising.

Of course it was still on a completely different scale than any Canadian city I've been too. The superboards were, well, super in size and impact. I saw many mobile ads by a company called "Target Mobile Advertising" I believe, where a truck pulled a huge LCD billboard behind it. Winnipeg has something similar where a small truck has ads that rotate on the box, but these were much brighter and more attractive. At night they would shine across the street and command attention to themselves.

What I am getting at is that I was surprised by the lack of large-scale advertising in a city that is itself large in scale. I have heard before that when a building is being constructed in Chicago, it has to pass an aesthetics panel. This panel ensures that any building being made in the city looks good. Obviously having a beautiful city is important to residents of Chicago. Buildings aside, the cleanliness of the city alone is a tell-tale sign that appearance matters. I am curious to know if Chicago has stricter rules governing outdoor advertising than other cities of similar size. I was not able to find any information on this online aside from limitations on tobacco and alcohol advertising. Does anyone know if this hunch has legs?

And on that note, did anyone else feel the same way as me?

In any case, Chicago is a beautiful city. I enjoyed visiting Critical Mass to learn how advertising works in a major American city. Working with a team of over one-hundred people on a campaign would be quite an experience. And to think I thought a group of ten was large!

In closing, keep checking back for the video. I'm sure you will all enjoy.

Critical Mass....

Great job everyone on all the blog entries posted so far. I went to Critical Mass's website to check out some more of the stuff they've done and take a look at their front page:

http://www.criticalmass.com/

Recognize anyone? That guy on the left of the Blackhawks group (I forget his name) was the one who showed us the Vegas campaign.

I love how they show their inter-office rivalry.

Dan.

Chicago vs. Winnipeg

Winnipeg is often known as the Chicago of the north. I decided that assumptions were not good enough to judge a city, so on April 6 2009 my advertising classmates and I took a trip down to Chicago, Illinois to add validity to the old nick-name. We piled into a seven passenger van and began the long trip down to Chicago.

“I’ve never heard of that.” said Ryan Barrett, 23, a gas station attendant in Minneapolis. “But I have a friend in Canada.”

“Oh yeah?” I asked with a laugh. “Where does your friend live?”

“Vancouver.”

I thanked the young man and left the gas station, shaking my head all the way back to the hotel. The next day we arrived into Chicago, population approximately 9 million, in the early evening. Immediately I began to notice the similarities to Winnipeg. The buildings were oddly familiar. When we passed through China town, I could not help but see the Princess Street face of the Red River College down a lonely street. The sky scrapers looked like something out of a Winnipeg post card. Many of the architects who worked in Winnipeg had also been contracted to design buildings in Chicago.

I don’t know if it’s the media, or simply small town ignorance, but I always expect the worst kind of treatment from people in big American cities. I bumped into a man on my first day into Chicago. We hit hard enough to force us both to turn back toward each other. I was preparing to fumble out an apology when he shocked me by saying:

“Pardon me, sir!”
When I overcame my state, I cursed my traitorous tongue for not saying anything in return.

I have been to cities from London to Glasgow to Vancouver and the only other place where I have been treated with such respect was in Winnipeg and Chicago.

I had also heard that Winnipeg and Chicago have a booming music scene. Since Chicago is traditionally known for its blues music, I decided to gather up a few friends and visit two different blues bars… which turned out to be much easier than I thought. There were blues bars all over the city; you just needed to know where to look for it. There is always a concert going on somewhere in the two cities, and all the local acts know each other from performing in the same venue circuits.

“We play everywhere in the city. Sometimes we play the same place two nights in a row.” Said Jimmy Johnson, local blues musician. “I can’t say I’ve ever been to Winnipeg.”

I decided one day, since we were in the home city of the current President of the United States (and because of this assignment), that we would visit his old neighborhood. We rode the red line rapid transit train all the way to Hyde Park Township to do some exploring. The area is known for being a little rough, and the police cars every couple blocks gave witness to that reason. Despite being a small group of tourists, we were still treated with respect and kindness.

“Sit down and relax, man!” said the aptly known ‘Blade.’ He was named such because of his skill with the straight razor. He and I conversed for a good twenty minutes about Chicago. “Yeah, Chicago is pretty clean. Lots of street sweepers.”

That was the biggest difference I noticed between Chicago and Winnipeg, besides the obvious size difference: cleanliness. There was no snow, very little litter and the streets were in much better condition. They think that they have pothole problems, but I assure you that they have no idea what a pothole problem really is.

Winnipeg and Chicago certainly share their small town mentality. They developed in the same type of environment and share quite a few of the same interests, including being different from the unappreciative east coast. Another difference that I noticed was the panhandlers and street buskers. There are so many of them in Chicago that they have to hustle and entertain if they want to earn a living. In Winnipeg, it’s more likely that one of them will stab you than entertain you.

Revolving Conundrum...

As soon as I laid eyes on the Chicago skyline, I knew I was in for something special.

Beside me, Kenton tightly gripped the steering wheel, his breath hissing through his clenched teeth as he attempted to negotiate the Chicago Expressways. I ignored him as I took picture after picture of the incredible skyscrapers of Chicago.

Let’s put this into perspective, in Winnipeg we have three skyscrapers: The Richardson Building, the Canwest Tower, and the Commodity Exchange tower. They line three of the four corners of Portage and Main, so if we want to go see big buildings, that’s where we go. They are all 30 floors or so high, at the tallest (I’m not sure which is, though.)

Chicago has a building like that on every block. We’re talking dozens of skyscrapers, and 30 floors is the minimum. Of course the Willis (ne Sears) Tower is the tallest at a whopping 103 floors, but many of the other buildings seem almost as high.

So let’s get back to Kenton’s stressed out ride and my awe of the Chicago skyline. As we exited the JFK Expressway and entered what is known as “The Loop” in downtown Chicago, I had to stop looking up at the buildings because I simply couldn’t see the top of them. Instead, I focused on the streets and buildings that I could see outside my window. While I noticed many other things that we don’t have in Winnipeg (traffic management officers at every intersection, the Rainforest Café) a trend began to emerge that didn’t even make itself clear until a few days later after I had been able to explore some of the city on foot.

Chicago has a hell of a lot of revolving doors.

I mean, we’re not talking about on or two here, we’re talking every single building. As I walked down the magnificent mile on my first full day in Chicago, I started to notice this. Office buildings, the Chicago Tribune, the Hard Rock Hotel. Hell, even 7-11 had a revolving door


:

As did other conveniences such as Walgreen’s (like Shoppers Drug Mart) and Dunkin’ Donuts

:

This couldn’t be coincidence, there had to be a reason for this! So I started asking around.

“I never even thought about it,” said Dave, a businessman exiting from Chicago Place through a revolving door.

“Are there a lot? Doesn’t every city have them?” said Joan, a woman carting her kids out of the Disney Store through –you guessed it – another revolving door.

The guy working the graveyard shift at the 7-11 just gave me a weird look, like a “you’re crazy!” kind of look. Then he gave me my jumbo Big Bite. He had actually given me the same look the night before, when I had asked him about the foam, “We’re #1” White Sox fingers behind the counter. (Why would you need to keep those behind the counter? Is there a huge problem in Chicago with baseball memorabilia theft? But I digress.)

So apparently I was the only person in Chicago who thought the proliferation of revolving doors was unusual. Well, not quite. Several of my classmates had also noticed this phenomenon, but were similarly stumped as to the reason. The only plausible explanation I could think of was that the revolving door had been extremely popular (or new) back at the end of the 1800’s, when the Great Chicago Fire had burned the entire city down and it was completely re-built all at the same time. As far as I knew, that was the only time that had ever happened in North America.

Only today, as I was getting ready to post this blog entry, did the answer come to me. Crystal Klippenstein, known for her savage Ellen-like dancing skills and her quick wit, said to me: “Is it because of the wind?”

…

Of course. The wind. “The Windy City,” isn’t that what they call Chicago? Why didn’t I think of that? Cause I’m an idiot who didn’t bother to Google “Chicago revolving doors.” After doing so, I have discovered that the revolving door was in fact invented specifically to prevent gusts of wind from blowing into a building, thus keeping heating said building efficient and cost-effective.

Who knew?

No one I had talked to, and after full four days in Chicago, 28 total hours driving with Kenton Larsen, and a couple of drunken Minneapolis hotel nights, the answer came to me in Winnipeg, also known for its high winds (although none of those three buildings I mentioned previously have revolving doors, at least on the outside,) from the first person I talked to about this.

Just goes to show you, you can take the Winnipegger out of Chicago, but you can’t take Chicago out of the Winnipegger.

If that even makes any sense.

Thank you everyone for the trip of a lifetime!

Dan Vadeboncoeur

I hate this city.

It was friday night in Chicago, and the next morning at 8 was going to be the day my ass gets shipped back to Winnipeg. I found myself at one of those piano bars one didn't need to pay any cover for, drinking $1.50 margaritas. Drinking in the night as my last night in the beautiful U S of A.

And people were nice here. It was a lot like winnipeg. In fact, Winnipeg has a lot in common with Chicago. For one, both are called the windy city. Both kind of served as the gate to the west (kind of). And both are pretty big hockey towns, granted Chicago has a bigger population to make an NHL team flourish. And like i said, the people were nice.

So why was Clint popping balloons angrily with the cherry of his cigarette outside the bar, cursing the golden name of Chicago to an outsider?

"I hate this fucking city!"

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"When was the last time you've seen the fucking sun set?"

Pop!

"All the time, we're from Winnipeg."

"Ontario?"

"Manitoba."

Clint continued on his drunken tirade.

"Visited with my sister in Phoenix, and I looked up into the sky and was like, 'what the fuck is that? What's that orange ball in the sky?'"

Pop! Pop! He was running out of balloons.

His trip to Phoenix was much like mine to Chicago. I'd be pointing up, looking out asking "what the fuck is that? Another skyscraper being built? Do they need any more of those?"

"What's that? Things to do and see?"

Clint took his city for granted as much as I may be taking mine. But the truth is, I couldn't give a shit less about the sunset. I await the day for my next Butter Burger.

I'll be making a video in the coming days when I find time. I'll then youtube it and bring it up here. Thanks to everyone who made this trip a great one.

Going Down With the Ship

Lavish indulgence, wanton debauchery and questionable morality; these are the principles on which the profession of advertising has been based since our forefathers realized that you could trick drunken rubes into buying your butter if the milk-maid showed a little leg at the county fair. It’s a proud tradition and, if you believe what the panic-mongers on Wall St. are saying, it might be in jeopardy.

It’s true, companies have been cutting their advertising budgets as they weather this economic storm, which means less cash on hand for scotch and cigars, but there might be more to this turn of events than meets the eye. As it stands, companies are coming to the obvious conclusion that the old holy trinity of advertising - TV, print and outdoor - isn’t as relevant, or cost-effective, as it once was and they’re looking to find a lifeboat before the whole thing goes under. Oddly enough, a global economic meltdown might be the perfect opportunity.

With executives pinching pennies, and the whole world howling for companies to tighten their belts, slashing a few million dollars from an advertising budget is an easy first step, but that doesn’t mean it’s the wrong first step. Spending the money to produce a TV spot and run it on the dozens of specialty networks you need to get a decent reach/frequency only to have half the audience TiVo past it anyway is a bad idea no matter what shape the economy is in. This won’t be the death of the 30-second spot, but it’s bad news for the commercial break.

Luckily, for every TV screen being turned off there’re two monitors being turned on and the money men are starting to realize that. Basically, with the TV model of advertising being left behind, the loss of a few million dollars from the ad budget doesn’t mean that a company is going to run fewer ads, it just means they’re going to need to find more cost-effective mediums. It’s a good time to be a code-monkey.

Saying the internet is the future of advertising is nothing new, but it might just be the golden goose that gets the industry through this economic crisis. Companies now have every incentive to invest in a broader advertising strategy, which means some lateral thinking, creative buying and, probably, more ads being produced. Sure, the margins one each project might be a little thinner, but the economics of scale can work in our favour.

The days of producing a slick 30-second spot, running it during the Super Bowl and calling it a campaign are over. I know, the web doesn’t have the glitz and glamour of TV, at least not yet, but it’s been the wave of the future for more than a decade and maybe an economic meltdown is what we needed to shake up the ivory tower.

It doesn’t mean we have to stop drinking in the office, but we should probably start inviting the IT guys.

Final Ad Assignment Ever !

Advertising – What do I think?

For this last assignment I wrote out several different possibilities of topics in my red notebook, as per my habits. Potential topics were things like does advertising carry a value? What does the economic crisis really mean to the world of advertising and so on.

I began the assignment with an opening paragraph. Upon the second paragraph I realized that I was not happy with the topic and I didn’t like what I wrote. Delete. Next topic the same thing happened. Third try, this assignment came to life. I truthfully cannot settle on a topic, nor have I found one that I like enough to write approximately 500 words about.

This same thing happened when I was writing my final short story for the Advanced Creative Writing class. I wrote about four pages of fiction based loosely on a true story. At the forth page I realized that I didn’t like where the story had gone. Once again, I hit delete.

For the sake of this particular assignment I can easily described to you how important I feel advertising really is. Without advertising how on earth can a company expect to attract business and customers?

Word of mouth is a powerful tool. Customers come into my place of employment, Canadian Footwear, all the time claiming that “A friend told me to come in and here I am.”

Word of mouth also does great work for the music scene. One of my hobbies that has been dormant for the last two years while I concentrated on school, is finding/discovering almost-unknown bands. Myspace is good, Uptown has reviews but the most trusted source I have for finding these bands are people. Talking with people about music is the best way that I find new music. That and watching Going Coastal on Much Music.

I’m going to stay on the music bandwagon and discuss the importance of radio advertising when your band is playing a show. For this argument I’m going to use an example that I experienced. The band was Just, they hail from Calgary and the only radio airplay they got was on Freq 107. Not a huge band by any means but they loyal listeners of Freq were familiar and loved their music, myself included.

Freq presented Just the first time that they played here. Playing the West End Cultural Centre, the venue was packed. Tickets almost sold out. The advertising the band had was the spots on Freq and their Myspace event updates.

The next time that Just came to Winnipeg a few years later the results were sadly different. Freq saw a slight format change with the new music director who took the station on a more Metal route. Just, not fitting into the Metal scene was not presented by Freq. The only advertising that they had was the Myspace event updates and the occasional mention by a DJ.

A total of maybe 50 people made it out to that show.

I still believe that radio spots are the best way to get word out about a show. I understand that times are changing along with technology. IPods are literally taking over and people are running to iTunes instead of HMV for the latest album releases. Radio has lost some of its presence but not all. I’m not the only person who would run back to radio at an alarming rate if Freq 107 came to be again.

In conclusion what I take away from being an Ad major is an appreciation and recognition of the world of advertising

Chicago

The land of the free, home of the brave. I love Chicago. Advertising is bigger, better and wilder down south. Check out this series of Snickers ads.

These things were everywhere, and the greatest thing is that none of them actually mentioned Snickers. They merely used its' chocolatey iconic logo to get their message across.

What an absolutely ingenious concept to revive a lagging brand.

Chicago is full of money. The downtown is filled with the world's most expensive brands: Burberry, Ralph Lauren, etc. (One tie in a Burberry store = $238, wow).

While in Chicago I was lucky enough to take part in a tour of Critical Mass, a digital-age advertising agency with seven locations world-wide. The office was much bigger than I expected. Critical Mass' client list features the likes of NASA, Rolex, and Dell.

While at the agency we toured the amazing facilities (and got to mingle with the staff).

Shortly thereafter, we were treated to a demo reel of the agency's latest creative endeavor. Critical Mass has just completed a campaign for Only Vegas, a division of the Las Vegas tourism board.

Critical Mass came up with the concept to take an entire small Texas town (many of which has never been on a plane), and give them an all-expenses trip of a lifetime to Las Vegas. So cool.

Critical Mass developed web videos telling the story of the town's vacation, and focused the webisodes around a few main characters.

Critical Mass proved that with a little imagination, advertising can move forward past its' reliance on convention methods.

The new world of advertising is all about surviving. With papers dying (The Sun-Times applied for bankruptcy a week before we left for Chicago), and TV ratings plummeting, these are the type of things ad agencies will need to do to advance the medium.

I truly loved the fact that CM was willing to take risks (or at least more so than in a huge agency). All the people in the office were dressed as they please (when asked about how the clients feel about the casual nature, "They are cool with it. They know this is how we are."

What a great experience.

Other places to visit when in Chicago (though not necessarily advertising related):

United Center - See the Blackhawks up close and personal.

The Art Institute of Chicago - American Gothic, need I say more.

Chinatown- Visit the oldest restaurant in Chinatown, the Won Kow, just like your hero (?) Al Capone.

The Blues - Blue Chicago, and Kingston Mines; absolutely great nite clubs in the city that claims to be the "Home of the Blues."

If you've never been to Chicago, you'll leave your heart there.

Advertising in the U S and/or A

Note: I can only seem to add the first two pictures, and in the interest of getting to work on-time, I am going to work...adding the rest of the pics this wknd.



Advertising and the Recession

One of the things that I had been told about a visit to the US, is that I wouldn’t have a full grasp of the economic situation until I arrived in the US. That was very much the case. Along with all the “For Lease” signs in windows on what should be prime real estate on the Magnificent Mile, and the proliferation of cash advance stores since my last visit, I was struck by how much free inventory out-of-home dealers seemed to have. From bus-shelters in the big city, to super boards on the highway, to even ads in the men’s room at the United Centre (I didn’t take a picture of that), there were ads all over pleading for business. To this laymen, that doesn’t seem like a good business practice, the fact that there are so many ads asking for the business, suggests to me that the ads don’t work. Perhaps giving current advertisers some extra faces might not be a bad idea, to create the illusion of scarcity.



Advertising and Civic Pride

One of the things I’ve always loved about Chicago is that it is a very confident city. Not obnoxious about it like Toronto, but a city that carries with it a very quiet pride. One of the things I noticed is that people take care of their surroundings. If they have lunch in Millennium Park, they make damn well sure that they clean up every crumb left behind. Perhaps this direct appeal, from Mayor Daley has something to do with it.

Also the campaign is in full swing to have the Olympics held in Chicago in 2016. In a city that is renowned for it’s advertising, these ad treatments seen around, (this on was in the lobby of Critical Mass) are marvelous.



Advertising and Politics

Something that is a sure thing, is that after you clear the Pembina border crossing, the super boards on the side of the highway become huge. And generally the feature the gigantic likeness of stupid looking fat men selling you vehicles, stupid looking white men selling you real estate and stupid looking fat men looking to sue your neighbour for not putting sand on her porch in the winter. But something else that is abundant are the incredible amount of pro-life billboards on the highway. I’m not sure if the pro-lifers think that after a couple finds out about an unwanted pregnancy, they’re going to make their way from Alexandria to Tomah for some gas station cheese, so that’s the place to get them, but it seems to me I see more appeals to keep the baby on the side of the highway then anywhere else in my travels to the U S and A.

Funny

I’ll end with this...it struck me as funny. All over Chicago there are “City Information” kiosks where one would assume you would learn about what to do in Chicago. In this case it just says “City Information: Drink Jameson Whiskey”. ‘Nuff said.

Mr. American, I Apologize

On a recent trip to Chicago with fellow classmates from the Creative Communications graduating class of 2009 (thank you, thank you) I realized that this was it. This was probably the last time I would see some of these amazing people. Some would move on to more exotic locations like Calgary or Saskatoon. Others would sadly never cross my path again, simple as that. I looked around the bus at all the faces that had grown so familiar over the years, then, I leaned back in my chair, and promptly fell asleep. I never could stay awake in a moving vehicle.
Hours passed. When I awoke, I was over my bit of sadness due to the crick in my neck and the rumble in my stomach. Luckily (and I use that term lightly), we were pulling into a McDonald’s parking lot for lunch. While in line waiting for my meal – very crabbily waiting for my meal – I had my first encounter with a pedestrian American.
“So, uh, what is this?” he asked, leaning in a little too close. “Where y’all from?” Rubbing the sleep from my eyes I slowly responded, “Winnipeg. Canada. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.” Then he said it. “Eh? Eh? Eh? Eh?” and he laughed. AND he elbowed me so I would get the joke too. I didn’t get the joke. In fact, I had no idea what he was talking about and he was elbowing me and I was crabby. I turned to look at him, confusion and annoyance on my face “What?” I demanded. By the time he realized that I was confused, I had caught up. Oh, right. Canadians say eh. Gotcha.
He was still talking. “I’ve been up there before. North Bay. Know anyone from North Bay?” The poor man. I almost felt like I should warn him. I am not the kind of person you make small talk with when freshly awakened. I informed him that no, I did not know anyone in North Bay, Ontario.
I picked up my tray and began to walk away to enjoy what was previously known as a Big Extra in Canada (the U.S. decided that a Big N’ Tasty was a more appetizing name for some reason), when he stopped me with an even better joke – except he wasn’t joking. “You folks have snow year round in most parts don’t ya? Where exactly are the igloos?” I guess you could say I temporarily lost it. I even surprised myself. “I don’t know,” I shot back, “I think they’re in Alaska actually – in YOUR country.” Eep. Red-faced I hurried to join the safety of my fellow Canadians.

As I sat in silence eating my burger (not enjoying my burger) and replaying what had just happened, I realized that I had definitely not lived up to the “Friendly Manitoba” moniker that has adorned our license plates for so long. I suppose I had just been in shock that I had faced almost every major Canadian stereotype in one conversation, with one of the first Americans I had spoken to – and while I was still half asleep.
I will admit, every American I encountered on the trip was very, very kind and I was extra kind in turn. I wanted to repair the damage I had done to my fellow Canadians by my rude behaviour toward the man in the McDonald’s. To you sir, if you’re reading this I have a few things to say: 1) We don’t all say eh. And if some of us do we probably don’t realize it. 2) A Canadian does not know every other Canadian. Canada is pretty big. 3) We don’t live in igloos. Maybe there are some that still do way, way up north but I doubt you or I will ever get the chance to meet them. 4) Anyone who gets off a huge bus with out-of-town license plates is bound to be crabby. You may want to steer clear. 5) The last thing I want to say (and the most important thing) is that I’m sorry. It was a bad day to run into me and try to make friendly small talk. I swear I would’ve been equally as obnoxious to a Canadian.
By the way, Chicago was incredible. I can't wait to go back... if you'll have me.


This guy was one of the funniest Americans I met!

Been There, Done That, Got the T-Shirt.

Over the last two years in Creative Communications I have learned that I will probably never get a job as an advertising copywriter in Winnipeg.

First, I’m not the best writer, and second, advertising agencies are far too small to hire more than just one individual to write copy. I know there are a few advertising copywriters in Winnipeg, I just realize I probably won’t ever be one of them.

After a visit to Critical Mass (CM) in Chicago last week, I am kind of starting to think that maybe bigger city will bring me more opportunities. Don’t get me wrong, I love Winnipeg (most of the time) and I would love to work at any of Winnipeg’s ad agencies. However, the idea of working on a $9 million campaign for Las Vegas seems a little more exciting than writing ads for Canadian Footwear.

I wasn’t the only student who had this reaction.

"Seeing that campaign for Vegas that they did, and in only ten weeks? That got me fired up about advertising again!" I overheard Dan Vadeboncoeur say in the van on the way home from Chicago.

Like Vadeboncoeur, I have more interest in an account coordinator position than a copywriter position within an agency. Yet after seeing the campaign for Vegas it was hard not to think maybe I shouldn’t give up on copy writing just yet.

With seven locations worldwide, over 500 employees (100 in Chicago alone), and clients like Rolex, Budweiser, Mercedes, and Las Vegas I was expecting a formal, uptight, corporate environment.

Instead, I found groups of people sitting at their cubicles, working away, wearing jeans and t-shirts. According to Office Manager, Ray Madrigal, it’s not uncommon for people to show in pajama pants most days.

“You should see what some people come in wearing. But why be fake, this is us.”

Of course, when they’re meeting with a client more formal dress is required: Khakis and a t-shirt are the standard.

By this point in our tour, I started to think that this actually seems like a place I wouldn’t mind working. Spending my days playing Nintendo Wii, writing copy for major clients, and coming into work wearing pajama pants – what more could a girl ask for? Then I realized the likelihood of a large ad agency in Chicago ever hiring someone from Canada was probably pretty small.

CM Creative Director, Dwayne Wheatcroft, who I later found out was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, made a point throughout his presentation to us that kind of hit home for me.

“If you don’t push the boundaries, you don’t know how far you can go.”

While I don’t plan on pursuing a career as copywriter or packing my bags and moving to Chicago anytime soon, it’s nice to know that at least there is always that possibility.

Refresh this, America: Capitalizing on a nation's optimism

Being from "The Chicago of the North", I really didn't expect to see anything especially new when I travelled with my fellow admen (and women) to the windy city. A Big American City is a Big American City and I had seen enough of them to know what I was in for. But walking down the shiny streets of Chicago - only recently primped and polished for their bid for the 2016 Olympics - I couldn't help but be taken in by the amazing spirit of optimism that radiated from every yellow cab and every businesswoman and every fat American tourist. 

The whole country (yes, even the Republicans it seems) are excited about their shiny new president and the change he represents - change that America sorely needs. Of course, the entire thing is such a self-fulfilling prophecy: one man excites the country with promises of change and the country, in its excitement, brings that change about. Nevertheless, the feeling has the whole nation motivated and optimistic - is it any surprise that Pepsi took the opportunity to capitalize on it?

Pepsi changed their Logo. Big whoop. But they MADE it a big whoop by tying their change into the change America is so excited over - Obama's change. What does Pepsi have to do with America's first black president? Absolutely nothing. But they do share an undeniable look. That red, white and blue "o" that seemed to symbolize hope throughout  Barack's never-ending campaign for the White House hot seat. But more than that, Pepsi's "Refresh Everything" campaign looks like it's set out to change the country around on it's own. According to refresheverything.com, Pepsi is hosting a symposium featuring seminars on refreshing the economy, education, gender, black america and even hip-hop. 

Walking down The Magnificent Mile in downtown Chicago, it's 

virtually impossible to ignore Pepsi's logo replacing the letter "o" in cheerful (if sometimes vague) messages like "Howdy," "Oh Boy," "Lovetc," "Hooray!," "Soda Pop," and my personal favourite, "Fo Sho."  The whole thing is exuberant, fun, beautifully designed, and most importantly, simple. There's no complex, intellectual punch line. The big idea, if there even is one, is pretty much just fuck yeah!

But Pepsi isn't the only one cashing in on optimism and the almighty Obama. Sak's

Fifth Avenue has commissioned artist Shepard Fairey of Studio Number One to create equally motivating graphics for their store displays as part of a campaign called "WANT IT" for spring 2009. Fairey is the man behind the iconic Obama posters you can see now on every yuppie in the country (and even a few in Canada). The store displays are totally consumeristic and totally appealing. "Stride forth in aggressive shoes!" they read. "Believe in Brighter Lips." "Cherish a romantic blouse!" It's giddy and American and completely affective. Even though I can't afford a tie off the Sak's sale rack, I swiped a catalogue so that I can frame the prints. I'm banking on Fairey's hope-infused recession-era art to be the new Andy Warhol soup cans one day. 

Refresh Everthing

Ooo la la!
Hooray!
Yo.
Lovetc?
On my travels to Chicago this past week, it was hard not to notice the oversized super boards all over the city, advertising Pepsi’s new image of optimism and hope.
Every generation refreshes the world, and now it’s our turn, according to Pepsi’s new Refresh Everything campaign.
Soooeet.
Chicago was a big change compared to the tiny city of Winnipeg, and so were the advertisements. When even the taxis racing through the streets contain ads, it’s hard not to notice them. With gigantic letters practically screaming positive affirmations at you while trekking the Magnificent Mile, it was hard not to get those warm, happy, fuzzy feelings about the soda pop, and I’m a coke drinker.
One advertisement was painted across the entire length of a building! Impressive, Pepsi. Very impressive.
The ads are simple; white bold letters all containing positive words with the letter “o” replaced by the new and improved Pepsi logo. Brilliant. The ads are always on a vibrant background such as pink, orange or blue and are no more than a few words long.
But why hadn’t I seen these ads in Winnipeg? Was the campaign just for big cities? I couldn’t turn a corner in Chicago without seeing Pepsi’s new image. When even the raunchy TV show South Park parodied the Pepsi campaign, shouldn’t the whole world have heard of this campaign already?
As an advertising student, I feel I’m more in tune to what the media throws to the public and even I missed the campaign. Not to mention not a single one of my friends living in Winnipeg had heard of it. Perhaps the opportunities Chicago presented were just sexier than what Winnipeg had to offer. Besides, no one can touch all those Curve billboards in this city.
Oh boy.
Refresheverything.com shows that big celebs such as P. Diddy, Queen Latifa and Lady Gaga are even signing on with the new Pepsi campaign to help host “refreshing” seminars on hip hop, education and more.
Wow.
But what ties all these words together? I’m dying to know what “Lovetc” stands for, and I’m not sure that “Yo” and “Oh boy” are the most positive affirmations I’ve ever heard.
I realize America was desperate for some optimism, especially after suffering through all the terrorism threats over the past few years, but what is the science behind this campaign? There was obviously a crap-load of research put into Pepsi’s big launch; redesigning the logo was a big step and undoubtedly hard to do. But boy does that little white line separating the red and blue look good when it’s got a little curve in it. Tough call, I’m sure.
Jokes aside, I love what Pepsi has done. It’s what America and all Pepsi drinkers needed in this world! I just wish it was as widely spread in smaller cities as it is in the larger ones.

This Facebook ad caught me off guard... So far as I can tell, the WAG wanted to advertise the Marylin Forever exhibit, so they created an ad that looks for people on my friends list who are attending and embeds their name and profile photo into the ad. Facebook has had ads tailored to users' interests for a while now, but this is new to me. I'm not sure that I would want to be featured in an ad without knowing about it first. It seems a little invasive. Maybe this is the first of many such advertising methods after Facebook's new terms of use?

Wade's 22 Immutable Laws of Branding Review

I also read The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding recently. I mentioned the book in a March post about the 10 best books on advertising. So, here is my version of Cliff Notes for the book:

Law #1: The Law of Expansion
The power of a brand is inversely proportional to its scope.
-When you put your brand name on everything from batteries to toothpaste it loses its power.
-Sales aren’t just a function of a brand’s power. They are also a function of the strength or weakness of a brand’s competition

Law #2: The Law of Contraction
A brand becomes stronger when you narrow its focus.

Law #3: The Law of Publicity
The birth of a brand is achieved by publicity, not advertising.

Law #4: The Law of Advertising
Once born, a brand needs advertising to stay healthy.
-Advertising budgets aren’t an investment that will pay dividends; they’re more like insurance against losses caused by competitors’ attacks.

Law #5: The Law of the Word
A brand should strive to own a word in the mind of the consumer.
- Long established brands like Kleenex, Jell-o, Xerox, and Band-Aid are generically used words because they were the first to market, established the category, and have owned it for decades.

Law #6: The Law of Credentials
The crucial ingredient in the success of any brand is its claim to authenticity.

Law #7: The Law of Quality
Quality is important, but brands aren’t built by quality alone.

Law #8: The Law of the Category
A leading brand should promote the category, not the brand.
-Competition is good; it expands the market through consumer interest.
-If more people are buying within the category, you can have a smaller market share yet still generate more sales revenue overall.

Law #9: The Law of the Name
In the long run a brand is nothing more than a name.

Law #10: The Law of Extensions
The easiest way to destroy a brand is to put its name on everything.
-You need to ask yourself what customers will think of your brand when
they see it on a line extension.

Law #11: The Law of Fellowship
In order to build the category, a brand should welcome other brands. -Choice stimulates demand.
-Customers respond to competition because choice is seen as a major benefit. If there’s no choice, customers become suspicious.

Law #12: The Law of the Generic
One of the fastest routes to failure is giving a brand a generic name.
-The majority of brand communication is verbal rather than visual. Generic words do nothing to differentiate your brand when it is talked about.
-Generic names also disappear from consumer’s minds; only specific brands stick.

Law #13: The Law of the Company
Brands are brands. Companies are companies. There’s a difference.
-The brand should always be your focus. If the company name is used it should always be secondary.

Law #14: The Law of Subbrands
What branding builds, subbranding can destroy.
-You can’t apply your own branding system to a market that sees things differently. ie/ what a car manufacturer might see as a brand, consumers see as a model. The manufacturer can claim that the latest car is a new brand all they want, but consumers won’t see it that way because they associate the company itself or the division as the brand rather than the models made by them.
-When you feel the need to create subbrands you’re chasing the market rather than building the brand.

Law #15: The Law of Siblings
There is a time and a place to launch a second brand.
-The key to a “family approach” is to make each sibling a unique, individual brand with a different name.
-Launch a new sibling only when you can create a new category, not just to fill a hole in your category or block competition.

Law #16: The Law of Shape
A brand’s logo type should be designed to fit the eyes. Both eyes.
-A ratio of one unit high by two and a quarter units wide is easily taken in by both eyes.
-Use legible typefaces rather than unique ones
-Remember: the brand name must have power before the symbol will become meaningful to consumers.

Law #17: The Law of Color
A brand should use a color that’s opposite of its major competitors.
-Red is a retail colour that attracts attention; blue is a corporate colour that communicates stability.
-Focus on creating a unique identity rather than just trying to establish a mood or using the right symbolic colour for the product.

Law #18: The Law of Borders
There are no barriers to global branding. A brand should know no borders.
-When a brand is in sync with worldwide perceptions of its own country, that brand has global potential.

Law #19: The Law of Consistency
A brand isn’t built overnight. Success is measured in decades, not years.
-Your brand has to stand for something both simple and narrow in the mind. This limitation is the essential part of the branding process.
-Limitation combined with consistency is what builds a brand.

Law #20: The Law of Change
Brands can be changed, but only infrequently and only very carefully.
Three situations where changing your brand is feasible
- Your brand is weak or nonexistent in the mind
- You want to move your brand down the food chain
- Your brand is in a slow-moving field and the change is going to take place over an extended period of time

Law #21: The Law of Mortality
No brand will live forever. Euthanasia is often the best solution. -A well-known brand that doesn’t stand for anything or stands for something obsolete has no value. A brand that stands for something has value, even if the brand isn’t particularly well known.

Law #22: The Law of Singularity
The most important aspect of a brand is its single-mindedness.
-No matter how long it takes, loss of singularity hurts a brand.
-What is a brand? It’s a singular idea or concept that you own inside the mind of the prospect.

Wade's Juicing the Orange Review

I read Juicing the Orange recently and thought it was a great book. It celebrates the success of Fallon Worldwide, while serving as a reminder to us why advertising is a great business to be in. Below are insights from the book. Enjoy.


Imagination is the last legal means of gaining an unfair advantage over the competition.

The 7 Principles of Creative Leverage:
1) Always start from scratch.
If you don't start from scratch you can get caught up in the mind set of those
went before you.

2) Demand a ruthlessly simple definition of the business problem.
You have to find the one consumer insight that forms the basis of a solution for the client.

3) Discover a proprietary emotion.
Emotions play a crucial role in coding, storing, and retrieving memories, which in turn form the foundation of decision making.

4) Focus on the size of the idea, not the size of the budget.

5) Seek out strategic risks.
If you don't take risks, your competitors will.

6) Collaborate or perish.

7) Listen hard to your customers (then listen some more).

-When conducting focus groups, listen even when people are bad mouthing the product. Passion is often a far better indicator of a potential insight than optimism is.
-When research keeps pointing back to the same place, you've likely found an essential truth about the brand.

-Agencies must accept their client's crises as their own to really understand them and produce their best.
-Brand conscious consumers actively seek brands that reflect their values.
-You need strong strategy and strong execution: execution without strategy is irrelevant; strategy without execution is invisible.
-Global strategies should always be executed locally. One message rarely is able to reach the whole world and have an equal impact everywhere.

-Subbrands or line extensions can give a fledgling subsidiary some valuable name recognition and credibility, but it often comes at the expense of its own brand clarity.
-Always look for influential groups that aren't being paid attention to. Can your client meet their needs?
-Big budgets just make your voice louder; to really reach people your ads need to make a genuine connection with the audience and invite them to participate in your message.

-Problem-solving in advertising is similar to the medical profession; you can't execute properly if you've diagnosed wrong.

-If a brand is faltering, ignore current associations and look to the past for something that might still resonate with the audience today.

-If you don't position yourself in the marketplace your competition will do it for you.

-Always discover the perception & the reality of your client's business. If you can address a fundamental misconception you can find a message that closes the gap between the two.

-Emotional marketing doesn't require melodrama, it only needs to be human & genuine.
-When engaging in guerrilla marketing in another market, use locals who’ll know what works best in their area.
-Rational positioning is rarely sustainable; an emotional connection is necessary to maintain a message's strength.
-Share of market isn’t determined by share of voice. The idea is king, not the budget.

The survival if the fittest doesn't mean the survival of the strongest; it means survival of those who are most capable of adapting to change. If you can't adapt, you can't survive.

Is using cute puppies ever questionable?

I just discovered this ad on the billboard at the north side of the Canwest building at Portage & Main. It's probably the only one for the business unless he bought any adjacent corners. But I digress...

First, this ad features better than the average creative for any kind of cosmetic surgery service. Usually, we're treated to cliche images of happy middle aged women smiling and looking complete. Ho hum, Blah! This ad is cute and the tag/image combo is simple. Unfortunately, the good doctor has violated the rules of good outdoor creative and loaded up the copy which will probably take away from people's retention of the message.

My second thought might be a bit of a stretch but I'm throwing it out anyway. Is it wise to use animals of any kind in advertising for anything cosmetic? Considering public sentiments regarding animal testing, could this cute little ad possibly turn some people off? Just throwing the possibility out there.

Ouch, that's gotta hurt!

Just an update on my post about Tropicana from back in March. Pictured below is the old packaging and the now scrapped rebranded packaging as a visual refresher for people.




I just saw a story on Ad Age about the fallout from that re-branding misstep that saw Tropicana quickly change course and revert to their former packaging in light of consumer complaints.

During the first 2 months of 2009, Tropicana's sales dropped 20% or a loss of about 33 Million in sales. Varieties produced by competitors such as Minute Maid, Florida's Natural, and Tree Ripe all experienced double digit sales growth during the same period.

Now the question being asked is whether or not Tropicana will be able to return to its former market share glory. People that switched over to the competition might find that the product is just as good and feel they have no reason to go back.

Either way, this is quite a cautionary tale for big time brands to consider before drastically altering their packaging. Packaging is just as important a part of the brand as anything else because it serves as the visual trigger for the consumer. If consumers don't see what they expect on the shelves they can easily pick another product.

Denny's Shows America More Love (and calories)

I don't know if anyone remembers the Super Bowl ad Denny's ran this year where they offered free breakfast to anyone who came in on a specific day, but evidently it went pretty well for them. They had over 2 million people show up for that promotion (which actually seems a little low in a country of over 300 million but whatever)and it created great buzz and good will among people. Denny's received tens of thousands of calls and emails of thanks at their generosity in a time of economic uncertainty and never ending reports of corporate greed.

So, Denny's is taking another crack at this. They're going to be running an ad during the NCAA basketball finals on Monday that offers a free Grand Slamwich for a friend when you buy a regular Grand Slam breakfast.



The Grand Slamwich is a grilled sandwich made with potato bread, scrambled eggs, shaved ham, hash browns, bacon, mayo, American cheese and a "maple-spice" spread, for $4.99. Mmm tasty!! The promotion will be on Wednesday April 8th from 6am-2pm for any people interested.