This campaign by Mama Hope raises a question that is largely overlooked in the Western world: what is an African man? With all the stereotyping rampant in Hollywood, it’s not surprising that African men are fed up with being typecast as blood thirsty villains. Although it’s convenient to blame the big screen, a video...
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To raise awareness and interest for the the Swedish Armed Forces, DDB Stockholm—pun alert—thought inside the box. (I know, I know, it’s an awful pun.) They put a young man (voluntarily) in a metal box in downtown Stockholm, and asked the city’s young people “Who Cares?” The twist for the campaign was the uselessness of social media....
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As Bill McKendry says in his Do More Good blog, branding is a necessary investment for nonprofits. And while there are many owned (website/content) and earned media (social/PR) opportunities to communicate with donors and supporters, there is an increasing amount of paid media (advertising) options to effectively reach key target audiences. Direct mail has been...
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Yes, it takes 36 slaves to sustain my lifestyle, according to Slavery Footprint. A banner ad headline caught my eye: How many slaves work for you? I clicked on, intrigued, and without any prior knowledge of this cause, my journey to enlightenment hit quite a few speed bumps. The site is puzzling. Navigation is creative,...
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Caine is not unlike many businesses: building the product and waiting for customers to walk in the door, hoping one day their hard work will pay off. The problem, of course, is obvious: how are people supposed to know you exist if you don’t tell them? We all know this, but maybe it’s worth...
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By all means is right: from billboards to TV to online ads to mobile apps, this campaign was one big baby. MLive Media Group, a Michigan news and media company, boarded the ship to digital-town and teamed up with Gravity Six to spread the news (pun intended). If you live in western or mid-Michigan,...
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Kids do say the darnedest things, although this time around you quickly discover it’s not quite as funny. From across the pond, Inferno London created this spot for NSPCC, an organization that strives to end child abuse in the U.K. We’re all avid lovers of Bill Cosby/Art Linkletter’s genius, so when we see a...
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I recently got an email remindingme that the deadline is approaching for The Dieline’s annual package design competition. Naturally, the call for last-minute entries also referred to last year’s winners, including a smart shoebox for PUMA sneakers. I was once more struck by its power. What made the PUMA box so cool—and worthy of...
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I’m seeing plenty of coverage of BBH’s Homeless Hot Spots campaign at SXSW. There’s a writeup in Ad Age, commentary across the blog-o-sphere, and as I walked past the television in the lobby today, a morning show team was discussing the campaign and holding up a tabloid with a typically frantic headline, which boiled...
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The New York Times has a story on the U.S. Marines’ new recruiting campaign. It’s a smart take, but we found this passage particularly intriguing: The new emphasis is partly the result of a national online survey conducted by JWT, the marketing firm, showing that many young adults consider “helping people in need, wherever they...
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Talk about a mash-up. Use Your Freedom blends iconic graphic design style (Shepard Farley) cause activism (democracy for Myanmar) and simple social hooks to raise awareness. The microsite asks visitors to use their webcam or upload a photo of themselves in a gesture of solidarity with democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, and to...
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C’mon PETA.; Lighten up. Like many of you, I love Mashable for their frothy blend of technology, social media and pop culture. All of which came together in this post. It seems that PETA is mad at Mario for wearing fur. Yeah, that’s right. They’re cheesed because the intrepid hero of Super Mario 3...
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Last week, I blogged about the fact that many brands are realizing that it’s not just enough to have a presence on social media – they also need a plan for creating effective and engaging content. If you like the idea of creating an editorial calendar (aka a content calendar) and are looking for...
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As a magazine editor-turned-content-director, I admit that I have a special affinity for editorial calendars. In the publishing world, this is the calendar that helps direct (and often streamline) the content for each issue of a magazine. In many ways, it makes an editor’s life easier. So I loved running across an article in...
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Gaming has come a long way from traditional board games that many of us know and love like Monopoly and Scrabble. The big jump to digital came via arcade video games in the 70s. I can remember like it was yesterday riding my bike to the local arcade with all the quarters I could fit...
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I read a lot. I find it’s the best way to stay current with market forces that drive change, especially within our industry. Frankly, it’s a tool that helps me make today’s decisions in light of their potential consequences. Looking back only a few years, it is remarkable to reflect on all the changes...
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Marketing has fundamentally changed from a one-way communication in traditional media to a two-way conversation in digital media and continues to evolve at breakneck speed. Digital media has matured dramatically from the 90s when AOL sent out discs in the mail promoting free dial-up service. Today Apple, Facebook, and Google rule with products that...
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A recent Adweek article, “LinkedIn To Marketers: Gather Ye Followers Now”, tries to make the case that brands need to hurry and gather followers on LinkedIn while it’s still relatively new. According to LinkedIn’s SVP of Sales, “there is a finite number of brands that any single LinkedIn member will follow” and essentially the early...
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We look at a lot of ads. A little bit of this is driven by the fact that, well, it’s our job to create them. But mostly, it’s because we love the good ones, like this new spot from famed restaurant chain, Legal Seafood. First, check out the ad: Second, why we love it:...
Read more →As more and more organizations recognize the critical role branded content plays in their marketing efforts, many colleges and universities are stepping up to the plate with compelling content and innovative ways to get it out in the marketplace. Universities around the country are finding new ways to leverage technology and engage their students,...
Read more →The face of marketing has changed considerably in the last several years. And in order to keep up with an increasingly tech-savvy audience, many organizations have redirected their marketing dollars – away from print and television advertising toward cheaper Web and social media efforts. The result is a need for relevant and engaging content...
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Hey creative types: looking for a (another) new outlet for your creative juice? Check out Nanoblocks. They’re like the LEGO blocks you had as a kid, except miniscule. One more item we’re adding to our list of craves.
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Google is introducing a laptop that runs its Chrome OS. We’ll reserve judgement on the hardware, but there are some nice, subtle touches in this video. What do you think?
Read more →It’s about breathing. Brands breathe just as people do. The artful presence of a brand in the market will breathe in the needs and nuances of the marketplace, and it will breathe out a fresh, relevant and meaningful articulation to its audience. Make sure your agency can define, create and express your brand to...
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Remember Spring? Remember when Apple announced their “magical” tablet, and everyone sniggered at the name, but still coveted one? Remember how the iPad was going to kill Kindle and single-handedly save magazines? Fast forward to now, and there seem to be two groups of people at Hanon McKendry: the “have an iPad” group, and...
Read more →You may have noticed something different about the Hanon McKendry website. Like… everything. It’s been a long time coming, but we’re delighted to have the new site up. The new site has lots of new features, but the biggest one is the little logo in the bottom right corner that says, “webTRAIN.” webTRAIN is...
Read more →We like Veer. Sure, the images, illustrations, and fonts are fun. But their promos and their merchandise show a great understanding of their target. Case in point: instead of saying, “20% off”; the offer is for “invisibility pants.” Which, if you think about it, never clash with anything…
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