by Next Wave Team | Oct 22, 2006 | Advertising, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, How To Select An Ad Agency, Marketing & the Web, Search and Business, Web strategy
We were doing research on cosmetics branding- and asked a friend who is a former “cosmetina” about who is hot.
She suggested looking at “Tony & Tina” so we did a Google search, and another search, and another search- and couldn’t find the company site. What we did find was this:
Buzz Marketing Group: Case Studies: Tony + Tina
Results
Tony Tina experienced a 25% increase in web site traffic, which led to a major site upgrade.
Unfortunately- the agency didn’t provide a link to the site, nor did the search engines. Must be a pretty impressive site- so hip, they want to keep it a secret.
If anyone knows the url to Tony + Tina Cosmetics- please use the comment section to tell us the link.
If you are an agency, and your client doesn’t come before your site in search- shame on you.
by Next Wave Team | Oct 22, 2006 | Advertising, Apple Advertising, Brand Relevancy, Design, Differentiating Your Brand, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Great Ad Agencies, Secrets of Great Advertising
As always- when the results are good, no one ever says “the ads did it”- but when the results are bad- it’s always the advertising that’s to blame.
When I first saw the “Get a mac” campaign- with the two guys chatting it up in front of a simple white screen- with “Hello, I’m a Mac” and “I’m a PC” I thought that Chiat/Day had hit a home run for Apple. Not only had they gone to a direct product comparison, they had captured the “user friendliness” of the Mac perfectly.
It was also an affordable campaign- with the potential for having legs. With a rumored 27 different executions already in the can- it stays fresh- and on target.
If there was any doubt that this campaign is resonating, Apple just released it’s latest quarterly results- and the news is great.
Apple Reports Fourth Quarter Results
CUPERTINO, California—October 11, 2005—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2005 fourth quarter ended September 24, 2005, reporting the highest revenue and earnings in the Company’s history. Apple posted revenue of $3.68 billion and a net quarterly profit of $430 million, or $.50 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $2.35 billion and a net profit of $106 million, or $.13 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 28.1 percent, up from 27.0 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 40 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
Not to say all honors belong to Chiat/Day- Apple completed their move to Intel processors- making their computers capable of running Windows should you absolutely have to (and unfortunately- due to some bad web coding- there are still some sites that only work for a PC running Internet Explorer). Apple also introduced the new MacBook to replace the iBook giving them one of the sexiest laptops on the market, albeit at a higher price than most entry PC laptops- but here’s the difference- you really do get what you pay for.
A Next Wave teammate who likes to hack things bought a Dell laptop for $800. It had more ram, more HD and a DVDr drive and a 15″ widescreen- feature wise, it looks like a great deal compared to a similar Mac laptop. But, here’s the catch- it’s all plastic- designed like a kids Lego version of a laptop- instead of the sleek, sexy, smooth lines of the Apple product. 
We’re comparing a Citroen 2cv to a Lotus Elise. If you need a hint- the 2CV is on the left in red- and the Elise is in blue on the right. 
Apple is delivering a clearly differentiated product- competing on factors other than price, with a consistent brand voice, in a highly competitive market. Will they be number 1? No. Do they have to be? If being number one means you are delivering the most product- at the expense of profits, sustainability will be short lived.
Apple is working on expanding their brand to be central to the “digital lifestyle”- with the iPod being given more credit by stock analysts than it is due. The idea of making life easier for Apple users which is reinforced in every Get a Mac ad- is part of the strategy for Apple’s move into other areas like the delivery of digital content- with the iTunes store- and the much rumored iPhone.
Could these ads sell the new products- definitely. That’s the mark of great ads that bring brand voice, design and company strategy together for results.
by Next Wave Team | Oct 17, 2006 | Advertising, Careers in Advertising, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Everything You Want to Know About Advertising, Great Ad Agencies, How To Select An Ad Agency, Secrets of Great Advertising
What makes the people at Crispin Porter + Bogusky do what they do? A handbook of course. How many jobs have you had where the orientation was: here’s your desk, get to work?
In his book “The Great Game of Business” Jack Stack makes a case that work is like a sport- only most companies never do a very good job of telling their employees how to win, how the score is kept and how to avoid penalties. It’s a very good book and on our booklist.
This might not be a best seller, but, if you are in the ad business, these are the people who are selling the best right now- from Volkswagens to Burger King Whoppers, Crispin Porter + Bogusky is the agency at the top of every agency search consultants list. Here is their playbook for new employees and some insight on how they do what they do.
EmployeeHandbook.pdf
Maybe one of the things a client should be asking to see when selecting a new agency is: can I see your playbook for your employees?
