Political Advertising aka "Badvertising"

It happens every time an election approaches (especially a key election). Political candidates vie for their positions and the rest of us non-political beings are subjected to some of the worst advertising known to man. Something I like to call "badvertising".  Badvertising is advertising gone wrong. The sad part is that these ridiculous ads are often effective at getting peoples' attention. The fact that they are so bad leads people to remember them and make fun of them and they succeed in getting their message out albeit in a bad way.

This morning I shared a link on Twitter to Adweek's blog Adfreak.com called Election 2010: The 10 Freakiest Campaign Ads. You can read their whole article here http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/the-freakiest-campaign-ads-of-2010/.  It is worth viewing if like me you enjoy making fun of badvertising.

I wanted to share with you one exceptionally bad political ad. Now I am all for hip-hop music. On my running playlist you will find everything from Beastie Boys to Jay-z to Little Wayne. That being said, using a very poorly produced hip-hop video in a political ad campaign is strongly discouraged!




If you're thinking about running for office I applaud you for wanting to get involved! We need good people in office! But I ask you to PLEASE have some dignity and use a professional advertising agency or marketing professional to develop your campaign.

Biggest Brands of Halloween 2010

Yay, it's that time of the year again! You know - late October! Who doesn't love making a complete fool of themselves dressing up for Halloween? It could be the most fun holiday of the year...at least in my opinion.  

It's big business too! According to the National Retail Federation, the average American consumer is estimated to spend $66.28 on their costumes, candy and decorations. This is an 18% increase over 2009. Industry experts feel the increase is likely due to the down economy and consumers wanting to spend a little and have fun this Halloween.

So let's take a look at the biggest brands of Halloween for 2010. Are you ready?

• Lady Gaga - no surprise here as she had a very successful year including a highly-publicized tour.

• Jersey Shore - as if it is not bad enough to just watch the show (which btw is a complete and udder train-wreck albeit one that is hard to not watch), tons of people will be dressing up this year as the crew's Pauly D, Mike the Situation, Snooki, etc.

• Avatar - of course the biggest movie of the year would make the list.

• Other popular movie characters this year include Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story.

• 1980s retro - the 80s are coming back all-around and Halloween is no exception as many people will take this trend over the top with funny hair and clothes.

• The Old Spice Guy - one of the advertising industry's most popular campaigns will come to life with guys dressing up as the guy on the horse.

• Twilight - this one along with vampires in general will be big because lucky us, the whole vamp lit trend continues.

• Horror movie villians - there will be no shortage of Michael Myers, Freddie Krueggers and their other creepy counterparts.

• Funny couple costumes including my new favorite the Plug + Socket.

So there you have it. If you still haven't decided what to be you can opt for one of these popular Halloween Brands. Go ahead, we won't judge you if you dress up as Snooki or Pauly D (snickering). Want to add some good ones to the list? Leave your comments!

Branding Lessons: The Gap Logo

Branding is a complex process for any organization - especially when you're a large, national clothing chain such as The Gap.  Updating a brand requires considerable planning and a strong and strategic implementation. Can some please explain that to The Gap?

Some of you probably saw or heard about the new Gap logo unveiled via social media last week.  At the time I'm sure Gap's marketing execs thought it would be a great idea to use crowd sourcing to have Gap fans come up with a new logo.   As one might expect, the Gap logo redesign "contest" garnered a significant amount of interest from Gap fans, marketing execs, designers, wannabe marketers, wannabe designers, media and social media professionals.

Most people weren't sure why The Gap was changing its logo and why a professional agency wasn't used as opposed to the weak idea of using crowd sourcing for such an important business decision.  A lot of people just made fun of the new logo and the method it was developed.

When a company doesn't approach branding strategically, problems are likely to arise.  Take for example the backlash that The Gap has been enduring since last week.  Already Gap has announced it will stay with its original logo -- proving that the decision to crowd source a new brand identity is not a good one.

I'm curious would you consider crowd sourcing for your company or personal brand? Did you like the newly designed Gap logo or think returning to the classic logo was the right decision?

Sherwin Williams "Bees" Commercial Showcases the Fun of Choosing Paint

I really like the new Sherwin Williams Commercial! The idea of the bees decorating their hive with color is a cute analogy of people redecorating their homes with paint. The use of color is clever and fun. The music is hip and whimsical. Overall I think the commercial has a simple, feel good vibe to it that positions Sherwin in a positive light to consumers.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Today...Corn Sugar Tomorrow?

The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) has petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to allow manufacturers to use the term "corn sugar" instead of the now mandated "high fructose corn syrup" on ingredient lists, which has received a great deal of negative publicity in recent years.

According to CRA, research indicates that consumers are confused by labeling. Although regular sugar and high fructose corn syrup have the same amount of fructose, nearly 58 percent of consumers believe that high fructose corn syrup has more and is a less healthy ingredient than regular sugar.

From a branding standpoint this is an interesting case of a product (in this case an ingredient) having a negative perception based on consumer perceptions - although it really is not as bad as people perceive. 

Is Facebook the New Email?

It's interesting how many of us are connected to Facebook for all or most of the day. Of course that does not mean that we're just sitting around Facebooking and nothing else. Most of us are working or doing something else while on Facebook.

In a report by Morpace Omnibus about Multitasking while on Facebook, users indicated they are typically doing other tasks while using Facebook.

The survey used to compile the report asked facebook users to select the other activities they engage in while using Facebook. The results were as follows:

• 68% check email
• 55% search the Internet
• 47% watch TV
• 35% listen to music
• 29% talk on the phone
• 24% shop or do research

This got me thinking. Is Facebook the new email? We're always connected to it online, on our mobile phones, etc just as we are with email. And to take it a step further, in younger generations like my daughter's, they don't even use email anymore. They use Facebook to communicate with their peers. Interesting

Facebook Ad Sales Growing

According to a new estimate from eMarketer, Facebook ad sales will reach $1.2 billion in global advertising this year. That is nearly double the $665 million in ad sales the social media giant realized last year.

While the growth in ad sales may not surprise marketers, what is surprising is the segment attributing to much of that growth - Facebook's self-serve ad platform, which caters to local advertisers who have gotten away from the old tried and true yellow pages listings. eMarketer estimates that self-serve ads represent around half of Facebook's ad revenues. The other half is from display advertising.

I would expect to see ad spending increase on Facebook for the next couple of years as more companies - especially retail begin to focus more of their media spend on social networks as opposed to television networks and some of the more traditional media. Gap's fall campaign last year is a great example of this shift from traditional channels to social media channels (Facebook and YouTube).