Archives for posts with tag: advertising

seen in the neighborhood

February 12, 10 //
0

Below is an ad posted up in San Francisco’s Mission District promoting the launch of Levi’s new corduroy line.

Made of corduroy itself, it’s refreshing to see the material of a poster become part of the advertisement’s design. With that slight twist, the otherwise simple message feels crisp and elegant.

Extremely precocious viral video

January 22, 10 //
0

If viral marketing is all about brand partnerships, then this pairing is quite the odd one: indie musician Lavender Diamond and advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy. WKE commissioned Ms. Diamond (also known as Becky Stark), to make a series of short webisodes for a series titled “Califunya!” And it is perhaps the most intensely adorable thing ever made, barring Cute Things Falling Asleep.

Unsurprisingly, due to W+K’s office in Portland, and Ms. Stark’s past collaborations in the indieverse, the show features the likes of the Decemberists, Mia Doi Todd and TV on the Radio’s Tunde Abedimpe. So far, there have been three episodes, each with a differing brand of “holy shit that is too precocious for words.” We prefer the sing-song episode “Bluebird,” if only for the two-part song at its center, sounding like a Vashti Bunyan throwoff dressed in apple pie optimism.

It’s interesting seeing a large advertising firm hosting such an funny, interesting art project, and for no discernible reason other than they thought it would be really cool. Is it going to be part of a larger viral campaign? Is this a test shoot for a new kid’s show? Did they just want to meet Colin Meloy? We’re not really sure.

Alls we know is, once we can afford to do this, we’re giving the Wu-Tang Clan a show on our site.

still obsessed with miracle whip.

November 3, 09 //
0

I don’t want to harp too much on the currently much-maligned Miracle Whip ad that has been on the blog twice already, but something about this video is eating at my brain. My girlfriend began playing devil’s advocate about whether or not the video was effective, and my mind opened up and entered a new world of post-ironic new web marketing.

Were Miracle Whip right all along???

I still want to say no — just because a video gets watched, doesn’t mean a campaign is successful. Miracle Whip, with these videos, are looking to attract a new audience using earnest value statements, and trying to connect their brand to ideas of individualism, rebellion and youthful exuberance. Recalling that Miracle Whip is a mayonnaise brand, this is a silly idea, as I’ve never thought about how my sandwich condiments reflect who I am as a person, with the exception of grilled onions — they show my creative side. Miracle Whip took a general marketing concept, attaching personal values to a product, and twisted it into the first 30-second spot to feature potato salad AND DIY Brooklyn rooftop parties.

But again, let me reiterate my crippling fear that Miracle Whip are actually totally right and because I’m posting about it on my blog, they have succeeded in a viral marketing coup, because I’m now their source of word-of-mouth online mayonnaise buzz. To be fair, is their bizarre “We Will Not Tone It Down” Obama-esque declaration for their mayonnaise brand any different than the surreal Absolut Vodka ads done by Zach Galifinakis and Tim and Eric? Yes, but no. I laughed out loud at both, and even though only one was funny on purpose (I think), I found myself sharing both with everyone I knew. Did I secretly not want to tone it down???

Perhaps the Miracle Whip campaign is truer to the spirit of raw “viral videos” like Keyboard Cat or other “accidental” viral videos — its sharability is spontaneous, unplanned and perhaps more authentic. So did Miracle Whip get me in on their marketing plan by accident? Is my self-proclaimed internet savvy no match for Miracle Whip’s brilliant advertising techniques?

I still say no — at the end of the day, the advertisement created by Miracle Whip doesn’t get me on board with the values they are trying to associate with their product, and that’s where their video fails. And although it has “virality,” this isn’t a viral video, it’s an advertisement, and advertisements are supposed to connect customers with a product. When I buy mayonnaise, no matter how many times I Twittered their ads, I’m probably still buying Best Foods.

And although I have now posted two rants about Miracle Whip’s new advertisements, I won’t be hunting for their tangy zip in my grocer’s mayonnaise sections.

Because I’d really prefer it if they toned it down.