BEST.SITE.EVER.

See below and then click here for more amusement. I found this site courtesy of the gorgeous (and hilarious) Aimee Woodall. Love that girl AND love combining sex and silly humor. What can I say, sometimes I act like a 16 year old boy.

Er, here is one way to snip through the clutter....

Ew.

Saw these biz cards for a Turkish circumcision doc on Adfreak.com. It definitely makes a statement....

Being strategic....and then just getting sh*t done

As most of you know, I work at Pierpont Communications, one of the largest communications firms in the South. It's an awesome company -- brilliant people, cool accounts and a LOT going on, every single day.

My role in particular is pretty neat. In a firm that focuses largely on public relations and public affairs, I'm one of two dedicated marketing professionals. Yep, I'm special. :) And unlike many of my peers, who spend 100% of their time on client work, my job is divided into three distinct roles: client work, marketing for Pierpont and managing the graphics department. Essentially, in any single day, I may do some strategic research into a client's competition, write and proof copy for a Pierpont eNewsletter we're sending out, and create estimates and purchase orders for new design work that a client needs. To sum it up -- I am an account planner/client manager/production coordinator, all in one. But that doesn't fit on a business card, so they just call me a Sr. Account Executive.

So yeah, I'm ALL over the place. And I LOVE IT! But that doesn't mean it is easy. The most challenging part: making sure that I think strategically and critically....while at the same time ensuring that we stay on schedule and on budget with every projects. Yeah, it's crazy.

Fortunately, I manage my professional life a bit differently than my personal life. In my personal life, I'm not exactly what you would call organized. My room is a little messy (not dirty...just messy!), I sometimes make plans and forget about them (I have been called a flake, albeit a very nice one!), I leave a trail of stuff wherever I go (like in airports and hotels...) and I tend to forget to reply to personal emails, voicemails, and texts (sorry, but I really do forget!). But at work, I've got my stuff together. Why? Because of the tips below....

- There is a time for project management. And then there is a time for strategy. Multi-tasking doesn't work if you want to be a strong project manager. And it definitely doesn't work if you need to think critically and intelligently for a client. When you need to manage a project -- like write work orders, check schedules and just make sure stuff is getting done -- devote yourself to that. When you need to be more strategic -- write copy, critically research a client's industry or just spend a few minutes thinking and processing a client's brand strategy -- devote yourself to that. It's hard to switch between the two quickly -- devote time to each one separately to ensure success.

- LISTS ARE AWESOME. I make lots of lists, and I spend ample time reviewing them every day. My "master list" is actually a notebook with EVERY task I have to do. It's VERY long, and at any given time I can have four pages of "to-dos" listed. Then, I have a smaller, "Daily list" that I create from this master list -- it just lists all the urgent tasks I need to complete that day. As I finish projects, I cross them off from both lists. I like this dual list process because it allows me to keep track of everything I need to do at some point, but still prioritize what I need to complete that day.

- Turn off the email. Yep, that's right. Turn off your email. If I am working on a project that requires a lot of concentration -- developing a strategic brief for example, or crafting copy for a website or brochure -- I turn my email off. In any given hour, I'll get up to 20 emails about 20 different projects....it's distracting! Turning off my email allows me to focus on what I need to do without getting sidetracked every three minutes to read an email.

- Take breaks! I think my brain is a pretty efficient little machine (hello!?!? It did go to Mount Holyoke!) but even it needs some rest every now and then. When I'm working nonstop, my brain gets pooped -- I overlook details, focus too much on just "getting stuff done" and am inefficient when doing anything that requires real thinking and strategy. The key for me is to take a mini break every hour. Even just getting up and getting a glass of water, or hitting the ladies room -- it all provides rejuvenation so you can provide the best work possible.

What about you? What tips can you share when negotiating between strategy and project management -- two very different, yet equally important, tasks?

I still love my iPad....

Have you seen the new Kindle commercial? It takes a major jab at the iPad.



Fine. Fair. The iPad doesn't do well in direct sunlight. Amazon is highlighting the iPad's (one) major flaw. But, as CNET.com so brilliantly points out, the iPad could do the same to the Kindle by, oh, I don't know, playing a video on YouTube, downloading a new tune or movie, or showing an app (or two, or three). It's not an apples to apples comparison -- the Kindle is an eReader. The iPad -- a revolution in how we get and absorb information from the internet. Don't believe me? Get an iPad. You'll see. I am obsessed with mine.

And besides, who would ever bring your iPad to the pool anyway? I wouldn't. I'm way too klutzy -- after all, I am the girl who WASHED an iPod. In the laundry. With bleach.

Do you have an iPad? What about a Kindle? Which would you prefer?

Muscle Milk Does Thanksgiving

In honor of my Puritan and Mayflower roots. Who needs turkey when you have Muscle Milk! (Kudos to Adverblog for the link!)

Great Photo

Seen on the streets of Austin....


Thanks to Martin, our fab creative director here at Pierpont, for the image.

Protect your brand -- and pay Godin $400

I tweeted about this yesterday on the AMA Houston Twitter feed, but in case you didn't see it, here's the scoop: Seth Godin, marketing mavrick and blogger extraordinaire, just launched Brands In Public, a site that aggregates internet comments (think Twitter, blogs, YouTube, etc.) about brands into one simple, easy to use dashboard that anyone can access. The twist -- if there's a page about your brand, you'll have to fork over $400 bucks to "coordinate" it. What does this mean? Basically, you can't change the content that's rolling in but that you can highlight the positive tweets, direct readers to your own company's videos, blogs, or sites, and defend your brand from any comments that may appear. Essentially, you're "curating" a clearinghouse of consumer buzz about your brand.

"Pay me my money -- or your brand gets creamed."

Thus far, Godin has introduced about 100 or so pages for some of our fave brands, and a few (Allstate and Home Depot, for example) appear to have forked over the dough to coordinate their dashboards.

Others are holding off for right now....and many are pissed. Why? Duh -- they feel backed into a corner where they have to pay Godin or potentially risk having a page on the web that highlights all things negative about their brand.

We'll see where this goes and if it takes off. I think what's really going to impact how seriously brands take this new venture is how well the Brands in Public pages show up in search engines. It'll also depend on how well consumers take to the new site. So far, all the talk about Brands in Public has been from marketing and branding folks like me, but if the site is going to take off, consumers are going to have to bite into it and use it.

Thoughts on all of this? $400 bucks isn't that much when you're a Home Depot, but do you think its fair to "hijack" (as some bloggers have said) comments about a brand and then force 'em to pay to defend themselves? And the most important question of all -- will this really help consumers make better decisions about brands??? Let's discuss.

Spell check anyone?

Another example of when a little proofing would have gone a long way....

News

Hey folks!

First, apologies for my complete lack of posting. I've been busy. Very busy. Why? Cause I just landed a new job! Starting Sept. 1, I will be working here. I am totally stoked for the new position. Pierpont is an awesome company and I think it will be a great opportunity. Yay me!

OK, promise I'll update again soon. XOXO!

Saving Cali's schools...

...one joint at a time?

Ok, seriously -- check out the new ad campaign brought to us by the Marijuana Policy Project. Apparently, taxing pot will save California's budget deficit? Huh?

This is ridiculous.

Tom Cruise makes a commercial. Or, to be more accurate, his freaky weird religion does.

It starts out ok. In fact, it actually seems like a decent, half-slick spot. Is it a new cotton commercial? Another annoying AT&T ad? Nope. Just wait.



Quite a change from the old ads, eh?



Eek. Just remember: If your religion needs commercials, run away. Fast.

Thanks to Consumerist for the links.

Ready, Set....BING!

In an attempt to whoop Google, Microsoft launched a new "decision" engine called Bing. You can check it out here.

Have you tried it out yet? I've read reports that it's either going to take over 30-40% of the search market....or die a sad, lonely death. I'll test it out over the next few days and let y'all know what I think. In the meantime...here's the ad that Microsoft is launching to introduce it:



My thoughts on the ad campaign: I'm not digging how Microsoft tries to tie together online searching and the current recession. Seems like their forcing an emotional response on us, and I don't buy it. Second, the commercial does a poor job explaining what makes Bing different. A decision engine? What the hell is that? And finally, the commercial fails to answer the all important question: I like Google, so why should I switch to Bing? The commercial does make some arguments about search confusion and cutting through the (crap), but when I put a key word into Google, I usually get what I want. Search confusion? What are you talking about?

Anyway, enough about search engines. I should be sleeping, but my poor veins are high on caffeine right now (damn Diet Coke addiction). So on that note, I'm off to Google, or maybe Bing, some celeb gossip.

The Mile High Club...

....just got a bit easier to get into. If you fly Air New Zealand, that is.



Y'all know that I'm not usually a fan of the whole sex sells thing (because let's be real -- how uncreative can you get?) but this one is pretty cute. It's meant to illustrate that Air New Zealand's fares have nothing to hide - unlike all those damn US airlines, Air New Zealand won't use hidden fees to, er, screw you over.

Eeek...

I've been bad. I haven't updated my blog in TWO weeks. TWO WEEKS! Not good. Sorry. And since you already think I'm a blogging loser, I'll also confess that I am absolutely EXHAUSTED, so this post will be short. Sorry. Again.

So without further ado -- yawn -- let's get started.

As my friends (or as anyone who has ever met me for about half a second) knows, I am OBSESSED with the show Gossip Girl. LOVE. IT. It's seriously a problem. Anyway, Gossip Girl recently partnered with Dove for a pretty cool promotion. I'm actually kind of digging it. Check out the clip below.



Basically, Dove created short vignettes of four real NYC gals in which they talk about their hopes, dreams, issues, what it means to be a socialite, blah, blah blah. Think profiles of Gossip Girl characters.... but with uglier ladies. (Oops, is that mean?) The clips aired during the Gossip Girl commercial breaks, and they were actually kind of interesting. Plus, the only reference to Dove was when they introduced the commercial/mini-show. I like that, obviously.

Dove did a similar promotion last year with MTV. It's an interesting way to engage an audience in a different way -- you're not selling to them, but instead showing that you get them. You're connecting with them and giving them content and info they want. Sounds sweet to me.

What do you think? Cool....or should the commercials be shipped off the Jersey? (Ew!)

McCafe My Day

Would you like a cafe mocha with that Egg McMuffin?

Beginning today, McDonald's is going to be advertising its newest venture -- fancy coffee. It's supposedly the fast food giant's biggest advertising launch EVER. Check out the TV ads here. (And apologies for the random ad that may appear first -- I couldn't find a sample on YouTube yet.)

Mickey D's entire premise is to keep getting your fancy coffee...but get it for a lot less than you would pay at, say, Starbucks. And if it works, well, Starbucks needs to watch out. Some analysts say McDonald's McCafe could dent Starbucks' revenue by 5%. Not good, especially since Starbucks closed hundreds of stores and laid off over 12,000 employees last year.

But Starbucks isn't just sitting on its overpriced tush and letting McDonald's steal its customers. America's favorite yuppie coffee house is shooting back with a campaign touting the quality of its coffee as compared to McDonald's and other cheaper brews -- and it's is not making any apologies for the price. Here is a sample ad:


Starbucks Chief Executive Howard Schultz says "We don't want the public to be misled that all coffee is equal, because it's not." Perhaps, but is your coffee worth an extra $2 a day, an extra $10 a week, and an extra $520 a year??? Given the current economic climate (I know, I know -- all my recent talk about the recession makes me sound like a broken record...), maybe not. Starbucks is already having to push back on rival Dunkin' Donuts, so McDonald's entrance into the coffee industry is probably raising the blood pressure of quite a few Starbucks employees.

So....what do you think of the new McDonald's ads? Enough to make you trade your Starbucks for a McCafe?

Anti-Gay Marriage Ads

Did you hear about a new anti-gay marriage advertising campaign? Seems that Miss California, a cute Christian college coed named Carrie Prejean, is the star of a new campaign created by the National Organization for Marriage. Why her? As anyone who has been on YouTube during the last two weeks will recall, Ms. Prejean recently lost the Miss USA competition. She claims it was for this controversial answer:



Anyway, the new ad is titled "No offense" ('cause no offense, but gays are gross and immoral, right?). You can view it here.

My thoughts: I'm pro-gay marriage, so I obviously don't agree with Ms. Prejean. At the same time though, I respect her for having the guts to speak her truth. My biggest problem -- why would the National Organization for Marriage pick such an uninformed and inarticulate spokesperson to represent them? Ms. Prejean is probably a very sweet and lovely young woman, but her ability to argue her point, both at the Miss USA competition and in subsequent interviews, is clearly lacking. To be blunt -- she's a blond bimbo. Apparently the National Organization for Marriage couldn't find anyone better to support their cause. Hmm....I wonder why.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream....

For Ice Cream!

Read an article today about how Houston's fave artery-clogging, mixin-lovin' ice cream shop, Marble Slab, is rebranding itself. Courtesy of MarketingDaily:

"This spring, the chain, which has more than 390 locations in 35 states, Canada, Mexico, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the U.A.E., will roll out redesigned packaging on all containers and point-of-purchase materials. The new containers will highlight the tagline "Find Happiness Within" and move from plastic to paper to be more environmentally friendly. "

Other rebranding initiatives include a new website that will appear more "high-end" as well as new store designs in a pink and brown palette.

Interesting. Marble Slab has always been the ugly stepsibling to other ice cream shops (think Cold Stone and the new tart places that seem to be popping up everywhere). The new brand is supposed to change this by connecting customers with the "gourmet" ice cream experience they're looking for. I don't know if I buy the whole gourmet ice cream thing, but hey, my fave ice cream is a Wendy's frosty, so I don't exactly have refined taste.

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens. Admittedly, my eyebrows do raise (just a little) about an ice cream shop trying to appear more high end in this economic climate. Given the slowing sales at Starbucks and the (relative) stability of it's blue collar competitor, Dunkin' Donuts, going high end seems like a suicide wish. I guess only time -- or a couple banana splits -- will tell.

REALLY bad product placement

I'm not a big 90210 fan. (I really only watch it when I want to avoid going through my bills.) But I watched an episode the other day and OMIGOD ...MUST.BLOG.ABOUT.IT.

Some of you saw my facebook status a couple days ago about the show, so you know that I wasn't interested in (insert sarcasm here) the riveting storyline or award-quality acting. No, what shocked (and disgusted) me about the most recent episode was the ridiculous Dr. Pepper product placement. In fact, the LA Times compares it to a "'Saturday Night Live' spoof of a television show doing product placement." Yikes.

Check out these stills from the show (courtesy of NY Mag). Keep in mind that this is only a FRACTION of the Dr. Pepper placements in the show....I seriously thought that at one point Dixon would just turn into a can of the freaking drink. It was that bad.



(I especially love the second image 'cause when I road trip, I always make sure to pack my cooler with Dr. Pepper cans...and the logo is always showing. I guess I'm just cool like that.)

With the invention of Ti-Vo, I understand that companies are having to come up with new ways to get their brands in front of consumers. (Cause with the exception of Ad Geeks like myself, who watches commercials???) And to be honest, I think product placement can be a good way to reach these customers. But the key is to make sure it's not too blatant or inauthentic. I'm not stupid. I know when you're selling to me while pretending you're not. And that just pisses me off and makes me put that Dr. Pepper back on the shelf.

When your marketing firm has bad ads

Hi all,

In Austin this weekend with the lovely Ms. Carolyn Goodwin. So far, it's been a perfect weekend --- too much food, too much wine, and too much sleep. Perfect.

At one part during the weekend, Carolyn's mom showed us an ad for a marketing firm in The Woodlands. "Have you heard of them?" Neither Carolyn nor I were familiar with the company (who shall remain nameless) but within 5 seconds we were both grimacing. Why? The ad, for said marketing firm, was awful.

I always find it humorous when marketing or advertising companies boast generic logos, advertisements created in word, or (worst of all) websites reminiscent of 1999. Yikes. What are these companies thinking? Sure, the average person isn't going to know great design from good design, but bad design? Sorry to break it to you -- they know. And the worst part? An advertising company with bad marketing materials is like a surgeon marketing a recent malpractice suit, or a home builder publicly admitting that his homes have leaky roofs.

My current company is doing stuff the right way. We're in the process of reworking our website -- admittedly it's overdue -- but in the meantime we've resisted keeping our old, out-dated site up. Although not having a web site is risky, we recognize that having a BAD site up is far worst.

What do you think? Are you equally as repulsed by marketing and advertising companies whose design or writing leaves much to be desired? Or am I just overly critical?

Jack in the Box

My fave post-bar restaurant is revamping its style.

San Diego-based Jack in the Box is undergoing an entire brand makeover. New logo, new store layout and even a new website. Have you seen it? Check out some of the images below.


Thoughts? People seem to be mixed about the whole thing. Some people love it, others hate it. The major consensus is that it doesn't look like a fast food restaurant logo....

I personally dig it. Much better than the old, outdated one. Thoughts?