by Next Wave Team | Apr 4, 2007 | Ad Agenices in Dayton, OH, Advertising, Creativity, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Differentiating Your Brand, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Great Ad Agencies, How To Select An Ad Agency, Marketing & the Web, Practical Marketing 101, Secrets of Great Advertising, VW advertising, Web strategy
Crispin Porter + Bogusky is the über hot ad agency of the last few years. We write about them, other people write about them, and everybody has an opinion. While celebrities have their paparazzi, the hot agencies have their armchair quarterbacks.
We write about them, because we know there are people searching for great, smaller, independent agencies- and hope they take a look at us (we think we understand web 2.0 better than CP+B and can help our clients get bigger bang for their buck)- but also because, well, the ads are interesting to us.
So, while Seth Stevenson writes in Slate why he hates Crispin ads- (and we have a few we detest too)- we thought this section was worth discussing:
Why I sort of hate the hottest ad agency in the country. - By Seth Stevenson - Slate Magazine
Strong reactions. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, a vigorous response is precisely what Crispin wants. As CEO Jeff Hicks told me, “We make a conscious effort to have our brands commented on and talked about.” It’s his feeling that in a world supersaturated with content—video games, Web clips, text messages, etc.—to “break through and be noticed is a huge victory.” Crispin is the master of breaking through, getting attention with its provocative TV ads and also with smart viral projects (remember the Subservient Chicken?).
But is all attention good attention? This is an age-old question at the heart of the ad game. And there’s really no right answer. Sometimes a provocative, attention-getting ploy is just what a brand needs. Other times, the tactic falls on its face.
You see, local car dealers have been doing the same thing for years (as did a really obnoxious carpet dealer named Buddy)- they did ads that people talked about- that “broke through” - and that drove our community nuts. Yes, they all have top-of-mind awareness, but, no, it wasn’t the most effective way of advertising. David Ogilvy suggests that you create ads that your mother would be able to like, understand and accept- screaming, being obnoxious, etc. isn’t the answer.
When we were challenged with changing the image of Mendelson’s Liquidation Outlet, we refused to put the owner on his own spots- screaming “I’m crazy Sandy, I’ve got deals” (which of course he did after we ended the relationship)- instead we created the “explorer dude” and his “shopping safari” concept- coupled with the tagline “The first place to look for every last thing”- which cut through the clutter, yet didn’t annoy.
As the industry leader, with everyone scrambling for competitive advantage, Crispin is able to sometimes dicatate to their own detriment. The Haggar Dog Crap spot- while entertaining, may loose the pants in the joke. And while we enjoyed the “Unpimp your auto” campaign for VW- it alienated an audience that could one day be potential VW buyers.
Creating an emotional response is critical in advertising- but, when given a choice, go for something your Mom would enjoy.
by Next Wave Team | Apr 1, 2007 | Careers in Advertising, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Great Ad Agencies, Marketing & the Web, Public Relations in the Web 2.0 world, Search and Business, Web strategy
You can tell who is web 2.0 savvy- and who isn’t.
Agencies are apparently paying $199 for 30 days to post jobs on Krop.com
Krop - Creative & Tech Jobs
Krop jobs are everywhere! When you post your job with Krop, not only is it instantly listed at krop.com but your job is also automatically listed and broadcasted to our entire network of top industry websites proudly featuring krop jobs. Your opportunity will be seen by millions of talented creative and tech candidates on the sites that they already visit daily.
Build your own site to be searchable- and you can get all the job applicants you want for free. Even ones you don’t want. We get bombarded with applications here at The Next Wave, because we can be found in search. Unfortunately, many large agencies have no clue how this works- and pay to post jobs.
Craigslist.com is always a free option to post jobs, but, so are many of the advertising communities online. Adrants has its soflow community or where you can pay even more on their own little job board. Even Ernie Schenck experimented with a job board on his blog.
I was looking at page rank for searches on Crispin Porter + Bogusky and saw that they were hiring more Flash and motion developers on Krop. Figures- the agency that gets search the least, is looking for more developers that will set them even lower in Google results.
Considering I get search referrals for “is Crispin Porter Bogusky Hiring” and “Jobs at Crispin Porter Bogusky” maybe they should just pay us to fix their site and teach them how web 2.o works and save money on all the job postings?
by Next Wave Team | Apr 1, 2007 | Advertising, Advertising humor, Brand Relevancy, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Differentiating Your Brand, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Great Ad Agencies, How To Select An Ad Agency, The Craft Of Advertising
APRIL 1, 2007: Ad Age: In a strange turn of events, former Crispin Porter + Bogusky LA Office Managing Director, Sally Hogshead landed the Miller Lite and Miller High Life accounts, previously at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami. When asked if putting a $100 million dollar plus account in the hands of a SWAT CD, instead of a traditional agency, Miller CMO Randy Ransom replied, “we tried Man Laws, it seemed to make perfect sense to go with a woman to lay down the new laws. We believe Ms. Hogshead has a unique and radical brand positioning strategy to make Miller Lite and Miller High Life the number one choice of the serious beer drinker.”
Ad Age has learned that the brief centered around new packaging for Miller products- instead of trying to compete with the traditional 12 oz, 20 oz or 40 oz sizes, Miller has decided to adopt the hogshead as the new unit of popular measure. A hogshead is a barrel that holds 62 gallons. Miller declined to comment, but in the secret brief that was leaked to Ad Age, Miller realized that if they sell one hogshead per beer drinking household, there isn’t room in the refrigerator for any competing brands. Miller has yet to confirm the account move on their beer blog- although they did confirm the split with CP+B.
Package design will be handled by IDEO, and in a radical move, Miller will only be sold online, delivered same day by new FedEx Buzz Delivery.
Said Ransom, “We don’t know why we didn’t think of this earlier, Super sizing has done wonders for the soft-drink business.”
Budweiser refuses to comment, but is now introducing the 10 gallon jug in selected test markets.
