Author Archive
AgencyThink
Proof Your Work
posted by Greg Batiansila @ July 11th, 2008
Dear Friends,
Avicom takes a great amount of pride in painstakingly poring over its work to make sure it has no errors. Make sure you proof your work. Otherwise, you could make some rather large errors.
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Social Media
Olympic Blogs
posted by Greg Batiansila @ July 10th, 2008
A client approached us to do a website focused on their sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics. One of the ideas we pitched that was not approved was eventually thought of by someone else and is now being implemented by Lenovo. I love this idea. Our idea included video blog, maybe even daily, handwritten “to-do” lists from the athletes. I’m glad someone’s doing it. I’ve already bookmarked it.
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Trends
How’d They Do That? No, Wait - Why’d They Do That?
posted by Greg Batiansila @ July 10th, 2008
One thing that strikes me over and over as I listen to or watch ads is the question “How’d They Do That?” How did they pull it off? I know clients enough to know that clients tend to be play-it-safe professionals trying to ensure they’ll have a job tomorrow by carefully maintaining and dusting off their brand daily.
So…how did an agency get the permission to make a commercial for a product that revolves around a suicide attempt? A commercial with only two spoken words, and one is an expletive?
I could see how perhaps a marketing manager trying to establish themselves as a whiz kid could have greenlighted this, but I’m more intrigued on how corporate approved the tact.
Then again…maybe the above is best answered when the “Why?” is answered. The use of the expletive means it was never going to make broadcast television. The subject matter – suicide – is nowhere near “safe.”
The answer to “why?” is the old dictum that if no one’s talking about you, you don’t exist. And to get some talk, some buzz, you create an objectionable video with profanity and get people to comment on it. Sure, it will never be on NBC, but will it be shared or watched online out of pure curiosity? Will you watch it? More views, which make other people comment on it. I have never looked at a Heineken ad on YouTube. So if you accept the rules of the game – and many brand stewards will not – you can see how this is a successful campaign.
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Recent News and Updates • Special Events
Avicom’s Open House
posted by Greg Batiansila @ July 1st, 2008
In case you missed it, Avicom had an open house at its Waukesha office on June 5. Many of the visitors were amazed to see just how much we’ve grown and all the services we offer.
If you did miss the opportunity to visit, please let us know and we’ll be happy to give you your own tour.
Some pictures of visitors on June 5:
Chris Richardson from GE gets a tour through the new Avicom website.
Mike and Alex from Gustave Larson said hi.
Steve from Johnson Controls talked about Johnson Controls Green Initiatives.
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