An advertising
agency in
Albuquerque,
New Mexico.

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Just in case the division still exists, we'd like to put an end to the false separation of design and advertising. In our minds, the two are inseparable. Advertising is design. And all design is, in a way, advertising.

These days, designers are just as involved in concept as any other department of an agency, including media. The best designers are no longer perceived as cake decorators who come in at the end of a campaign execution to make something look pretty. And on the advertising side of the equation, art directors and writers should be expected to have a certain aesthetic knowledge of what a brand should look and feel like, beyond the conventional advertising deliverables of print, TV, collateral and interactive.

Advertising vs. design is dead. Long live designvertising. Or, if you prefer, adversigning.

 

We're always trying to one-up our clients’ competitors with guerrilla tactics
that surprise and reward, with the goal of introducing our clients to those we
are targeting. But we are often struck by the lack of separation in people's minds between fresh new tactics and gack - the annoying advertising for advertising sake - or what some have called “ad creep.”

So, these are a few guidelines we use to determine if an idea is worthy
of pursuit:

If it annoys people, it's gack. If it entertains, it's fresh.

If it's pasting a logo on something (escalators, elevator buttons, cups, etc.), it's probably gack. If people stop and look at it, it's fresh.

If it adds to people's loathing of advertising in general, it's gack. If they don't even think of it as advertising, it's fresh.

If the audience is captive and can’t escape the message, it might be gack. If the audience feels like they are stumbling upon it, it’s fresh.

If the guerrilla message isn’t customized for the location, it could be gack. If the message couldn’t work without the location, it’s fresh.

 

At some point in the past decade, advertising agencies stopped wanting to be advertising agencies. Is it because, as an industry, we’re embarrassed? Maybe it’s the bad connotation people associate with “ad people” being slick or self-serving. Perhaps it’s the self-perception that because “advertising” is changing, clients will think advertising agencies are limited to traditional advertising. Who knows. But whatever the reason, ad agencies have taken to calling themselves “brand consultants” or some other euphemism meant to imply greater credibility.

To us, a good ad agency is a good ad agency and should be able to handle anything. The solid agencies adapt, adjust, understand new media, create their own media for clients and help their clients rock and roll through the constant changes in communications.

We’re an ad agency. Hi.

 

© 2008 3 Advertising LLC, a full-service advertising agency in Albuquerque, New Mexico.