In-The-Box Thinking

A short post today regarding the advertising industry, and what you can learn from this for your own professional gain, mostly focused on breaking the ‘barriers’ associated with traditional marketing.

Everywhere we go, posters, commercials and billboards are talking to us, shouting at us, to listen to them.  (Some studies indicate that we are ‘shouted’ at more than 200+ times a day in fact!)  So it takes some very creative thinking to stand out from the mass of shouting to really make an impact on the average listener (consumer).  This is nothing new.  So, I’ve always been curious about the ‘boundaries’ involved with traditional advertising, and the various guerrilla  methods used to get out to the listeners.  That’s why this ad really caught my attention.  That’s some great creative thinking.  It’s one thing to invent a whole new ‘guerrilla’ means of communicating through advertising, it’s another altogether more difficult thing to work within a well established form of communications such as this, and be so effective.  And most amazingly, to make it so simple (which most often the best ideas are; and that’s worthy of it’s own post altogether)

For those of you thinking about marketing or advertising yourself to get work (students and professionals alike), it can be extremely valuable to look around at the landscape and ask yourself, how can I stand out from this?  It’s similar to advertising when you think about it.  Dozens, if not hundreds, of students and professionals alike, trying to find work and catch the attention of employers.  Many of the students I teach are stressed something new and amazing way to capture employer’s attention, however that thinking can be both daunting and frustrating.  Why not take a cue from some of the best communicators out there – advertisers – and see how their ‘in-the-box’ thinking can help your ambitions?

So my question:  looking at your portfolio, resume, demo reel,  networking tools and even interview answers and presentation.  How do they compare to the mass of people out there trying to say the same thing you are?  What simple idea and attitude can you apply to your own conversation with the world that makes you memorable and valuable?  A small hint, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel; instead, why not make a truly memorable wheel!

As an added point of interest, I found this image and article on PSFK.com, a great site I’ve been frequenting quite often these days!  I’d recommend checking it out!

Would enjoy your thoughts on this article!  Why do you think these sorts of ads are so successful in capturing our attention?

- B -

What’s in a brand name?

So, what’s in a brand name?  Well, it would appear that there is quite a lot and not a whole heck of a lot, depending on where you look.

I’m working on a project with some friends that seems to have a lot of exciting opportunities and loads of potential … if only we could figure out a name.   We all think it’s great, but what in the heck do we call this thing?  A name will say a lot about our product, our ideology, our services, and how people will eventually remember, identify and incorporate this product into their everyday lives, not to mention, it has to be memorable, spellable, emotional, logical, scalable, available and clever.

So, with all of these various requisites, and after a few weeks of meetings, brainstorms, naming parties, and dictionary upon dictionary upon dictionary, we’re still in the air about what this thing will be called.  Interestingly enough though, it’s forced us to look at major brands and their names, to understand what thought processes have gone into the most successful brands.  Here’s a great link to the etymology of famous brands that highlights some of the really curious origins of some of your favourite brands!  (Top of my list so far is Asics, most likely because I’m on a Latin kick for the moment.)

A part of me feels like this should be dynamic and interesting, but not given too much analysis to the point that it loses its’ fun for function.  (Makes me think of a favourite saying: a camel is a horse designed by a committee).  Another part looks at some very ‘easy’ names on this list and realizes now that many of them were given lots of thought before launch (Nike is great example here).  Either way, once we have this sorted out it will be come a matter of branding and positioning the name, just like Nike and Coke and Apple, which is what brings us from just a name to a successful brand.