3 Advertising - Three Advertising - Albuquerque, New Mexico

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Long live the idealists.

Clients are faced with a certain dilemma when creating a communications campaign. Should they hire generalists; that is, a full-service ad agency, or specialists; group(s) with a skillset in one area of communications. As a full-service firm, we are sometimes labeled the former. But while we do execute across a broad array of tactics (advertising, design, interactive, guerrilla, etc.), we like to think of ourselves as “idealists.”

We believe the simple idea should always drive the execution. The idea needs to be applied to the most effective tactics and developed to its most thoughtful execution using the unique features and ability of each medium. Starting with the idea and knowing your audience is everything. This is where great campaigns - and great individual executions - come from.

Today there is a proliferation of communications gurus. There are industry-specific ad specialists, web specialists, out-of-home specialists, radio specialists, and the list goes on. The existence, and in most cases, success of these groups comes from the natural understanding that if a person or company does one thing, they are much more likely to do that thing very well. But in communications, there is another side to this debate. When people specialize in one task, they tend to evolve into pursuing one way to do that task. Eventually, the work looks, feels and sounds the same for each client, no matter the business category. Repetition and practice make perfect for say, a special teams football squad. But in communications, cookie-cutter sameness across clients and within categories can be the enemy.

So, as you develop your next campaign, think to yourself: “idea first.”

Idea first: What is the idea?
Idea first: Where will this idea have the most impact on our target? (In his living room? At her place of work? Online? At a restaurant? In a sales presentation?)
Idea first: What is the best way to communicate this idea within this space?

The debate about using generalists vs. specialists will go on. We simply want to add a new group to the discussion. Idealists.

Posted by 3 at 09:12 PM | Post a comment

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Thinking inside the box. (Or at least to the edges.)

In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the concept of thinking “outside the box” began to permeate corporate America. The world of advertising led the charge. At the time, this approach was brilliant in its simplicity. It let people know that they needed to think, act and do things differently because the outside world was changing. Then came the dot-com era of advertising and “outside the box” became “outside of reality.” In their eagerness to create whole new ways of thinking, many advertisers lost sight of basic business principles. In some cases, creative executions strayed so far from their objectives and their target, that they were speaking a different language to their customers. Not good for business.

We prefer the idea of “pushing the box.” This means you are actually still living inside the world of reality, but you are tied to basic, fundamental truths about what you need to accomplish, who you are speaking with and how you are speaking to them. This is where true creativity is born, because the answer must be grounded while also revolutionary. You force yourself to create ideas that are strategically sound, but require absolute creativity in their execution.

Great advertising comes from taking a simple, true business premise (e.g. an insight about how people think, use or feel about your product) and then pushing that idea creatively until it stretches the box sideways a bit, but never quite breaks outside of it. You might read this and say, all the great work of the past was “outside of the box.” We would argue that the real greats were simply pushing the box…really hard. Consider “1984”, the classic TV spot for Apple by Chiat/Day. This creative was absolutely and soundly based on the premise that, at the time, PC users were tired of not having choices, being told what they needed in a PC and then being given a complex, difficult-to-use product.

Appropriating George Orwell’s 1984 as a metaphor for the Mac revolution was brilliant. But solidly in the box.

Posted by 3 at 09:09 AM | Post a comment

Friday, August 31, 2007

Marketing shouldn’t have bad hair days.

Remember when you first got your high school yearbook? You grabbed your copy and immediately began scouring the photos? But you weren’t looking to see how your friends looked. You were looking for yourself and beginning to formulate your excuses as to why you were having such a bad hair day. Looking at yourself first is a very natural reaction. (Don’t be ashamed, everyone does it.) But in marketing and communications, that instinctive self-referential response isn’t the most effective. After all, it’s our customers we need to please, not our own ego. And what they do every day, and what they read and watch every day, and their likes and dislikes may be very different from our own.

So whatever you’re trying to sell, be it an idea, a product, a service or simply a place in their mind, remember: it’s not about you, it’s not about your agency, it’s about them – your customers. The smart, good people who will hopefully choose to support your business as a result of how you speak with them. Do what your mother told you in grade school and put yourself in their shoes. Try it; you’ll be surprised at how infrequently you have to make excuses for your hair, and how often you will create a compelling, and above all effective, campaign.

Posted by 3 at 03:59 PM | Post a comment

Long live the idealists.

Thinking inside the box. (Or at least to the edges.)

Marketing shouldn’t have bad hair days.

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Long live the idealists.

Thinking inside the box. (Or at least to the edges.)

Marketing shouldn’t have bad hair days.

Page 8 of 14 pages « First < 6 7 8 9 10 > Last »

Latest work: Albuquerque Ambulance

SEARCH BLOG

RECENT BLOG ENTRIES

BLOG ARCHIVES

COOL LINKS

SYNDICATION

Latest work:
Albuquerque Ambulance