As a veteran of McCann-Erickson Worldwide and several other ad agencies, I can personally attest to the fact that many of the quotes and not a few of the hijinks on AMC's Mad Men are spot on and not a little unfamiliar. Yes, there are stories, but I won't tell!
I will say one thing, advertising (and marketing) is now and always will be about knowing the customer very, very intimately.
Tru Organic Spirits delivers a truly brilliant mix of alcoholic beverage marketing, social media savvy, nerdy, likable real people, and serious social responsibility. Everyone's thirsty for new ways to get attention, so I suggest checking out their Media Center or Googling TruVodka to figure out how and where they got covered – again and again. From SEED Eco Lounge posts to Newsweek. Find way cool new ways (no bones about it, it's in the trenches do-it-yourself hard work) to get noticed and stretch your marketing dollars even further.
I now know how to keep warm, camp outdoors with less, and look like the Pillsbury Dough Boy – all at the same time. The Selk Bag. It's essentially a sleeping bag with arms, legs, and a hood, combining mobility, warmth, and innovative styling.
Here's a marketing riff for free – brainstormed with Erik Campbell, an up and coming Bay Area Industrial Designer, on steps Lippiselkbag, the UK company selling the Selk Bag, can take to grow bigger:
Because potential customers are technology and media savvy, like their toys, and are plugged into social media, the product should be pushed through traditional and non-traditional channels. Blogging, Facebook (big time), MySpace, Flickr, Twitter, all in the mix, and more.
Online outdoor adventure evangelists – romanced.
Hire a creative PR firm to scramble across media channels and create inspired, fun, newsworthy, and out there promotional events. The company could hire folks for not much money to tromp around in the bag at sporting events, trade shows, nightclubs, concerts, Burning Man, on reality shows (CBS' The Amazing Race?), at the Coachella Desert Festival. Why not figure out how to get it into a Ted Talk, or what about an iPhone App? Make the Selk Bag swag for the stars at the Grammies and other high profile events to build buzz. Everyone must be so tired of water bottles and stuff covered in Swarovski crystals. Get Ellen to dance up the aisles in one on her show.
What about ads on outdoors and extreme sports websites? Product placement to build awareness everywhere in action and buddy movies – pursued.
Zip the Selk Bag onto famous outdoor sports figures, celebrities, and actors bods! Chasing a winter Olympics tie-in is a no-brainer!
Found this great quote on thisnext.com through a google search. Word of mouth marketing at its best!
"I am not sure I camp enough for one of these, but I think I might start... tell me this sleeping bag is not totally awesome. I could sleep, ski, snowboard and wear this all day, and barely have to use the heat in my house."
Dog breeders are posting videos of their pups on YouTube and ringing up sales.
Ours included! We bought our darling two-year-old cafe au lait *standard poodle three weeks ago, after viewing him prancing around on YouTube.
Many businesses are adding YouTube to their marketing programs, posting videos in Canada (where my dog is from), for example, and reaching buyers in the San Francisco Bay Area (where I live) !
Search for the Hangar One videos on YouTube to see what's possible on a larger scale.
Getting your message everywhere is easier than ever. Size doesn't matter.
*Yes, there is an asterisk!
Our new dog did arrive at Air Canada Cargo with a few quirks that I couldn't have known about from the video. Therefore, especially for big ticket items, buyers beware.
Not long ago I was invited to a resort in the mountains that is booked solid for the next seven summers. They have a chart on the wall listing every family and every cabin rented through 2015! By looking at the picture of one of the cabins, you have to wonder why a humble place with no heat and lumpy beds is so popular!
Well, they take dogs. You can sit in the river all day in a lounge chair if you want, play bingo at night, visit with generations of families that have been coming for over 40 years, feed the donkey, cook for yourself or eat dinner in the lodge, dance, drink gin and tonics, and play darts. People smile at you when you walk by. You don't have to wear make-up. They make chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Sleeping under the stars on the back porch is pretty wonderful. The Ritz it is not, but this place has something special that money can't buy.
THIS MAY BE SACRILEGE.
Maybe Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa isn't just one of the greatest masterpieces of Renaissance painting. Maybe it isn't just a divine portrait of a mystery woman (or as naysayers whisper, da Vinci in drag) with an enigmatic smile.
But bigger, much bigger.
Maybe the Mona Lisa is the most important example of PR ever conceived. Ever. Think about it.
The Louvre could have been just another chilly art museum looking for donors without it, even with I.M. Pei's pyramid wedged into the courtyard.
Today, Larry Harnisch, the leading Black Dahlia expert, copy editor, and blogger for The Los Angeles Times, wrote a very insightful review of my father Neil Clemans' book, "Picturing the '50s". The book covers Clemans' years as a Los Angeles Mirror-News photojournalist in the 1950s and early '60s. Harnisch writes from the perspective of a veteran newsman and aficienado of the era. I am super proud of Pop. Best of all, seeing this picture of Marilyn Monroe published for the first time in Harnisch's article. Way back when, my dad posed and photographed Monroe at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but another Mirror-News photographer shot over his shoulder and took the credit.
I stood in line with all the other devotees of Sprinkles. The most divine cupcake store in the world, delivering to the Playboy Mansion, placing peace signs on their confections, and serving the masses. Strategically located on Little Santa Monica, a block off Rodeo Drive, down the street from Kitson and the paparazzi, and you're there. The architecture, all natural ingredients, graphic design system, color palette. Attention to detail. Simple. Doing one thing very, very well! Try the red velvet cupcakes.
Take the headlamp, for instance.
Visit the REI website and you will see not one, but twenty amazing headlamps (designed by 5 companies) to choose from.
Good old American ingenuity will pull us through the dark times. I am sure of it.
