Happy Anniversary AAW

The Advertising Association of Winnipeg celebrates 65 years in 2009!

Join in the celebration on Thursday, December 3, 2009 at Fort Gibraltar from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Stress Free

Coast Capital Savings new No Fees approach



Title: No fees
Agency: Rethink

Snuggie

A great ad from Subaru



Title: Crowbar
Agency: DDB Canada

Retaining Youth Interest: Defying Marketing Status Quo to Reach Gen Y & Gen Z

Lindy Norris, Youth Market Manager at MTS will discuss current youth trends, benchmarking leading youth brands, the challenge of authentic communication, and effectively using social media to reach youth.

November 19, 2009
The Fort Garry Hotel
$35 for Members, $65 for Non-Members (CMA)

Above and Beyond for Clients

What does it mean to be absolutely committed to a client? After 20 years in sales and marketing, it has become clear to me that we need to move beyond long hours and exceptional copy and design. True commitment can only be shown by taking a client’s business and treating it like it is our own.

Over time it can be easy to take a client for granted. Our focus can shift from building an exceptional brand to building our own portfolios, bringing in revenue and winning top awards. This mindset is counterintuitive to what our industry really needs to be about.

Selling relationships rather than products
We are in the business of building brands and relationships. When I launched Precision Marketing and Communications in 1997, I started in the basement of a bungalow. Certainly hard work and creative talent brought the firm to where it is today, but the crux of what led to its success was the ability to build relationships by putting ourselves in our client’s shoes.

One relationship building strategy has been to travel with clients. For us, this means traveling to over 25 industry trade shows in five different countries each year along side our clients. This allows us to market their brand directly beside them. It also moves the relationship beyond a simple client-agency agreement and into a strategic partnership.

The strength of a relationship is what will make a client stay with you during tough economic times. It is the basis for an inherent trust that we must protect and value above all else. A trusted advisor takes calls after hours and on the weekend. They are a part of family celebrations and there in times of personal tribulation. Becoming part of an inner circle is what it’s about and what needs to be the goal of every client commitment.

Providing support not just collateral
Marketing firms that invest well beyond the creative and become part the inner workings or an organization are far more valuable. Bring an agency to sales meetings. Or, help present marketing strategies to a client’s stakeholders during major presentations. This shows the ability to go the extra mile and connect with clients on a level beyond the delivery of basic service. It also proves that you see the bigger picture of their business goals and objectives.

Showing an understanding of time management and timing
No matter how far a campaign is planned in advance, time will be the biggest enemy – there will never be enough of it. Establish a critical path that hits the client’s objective, shows time sensitivity and an understanding of industry seasonality issues. Be honest about achievable goals. This level of transparency can not only be appreciated, it can be rewarded with longevity.
A well timed and disciplined approach is often the most difficult thing to get clients to buy into, but arguably the most valuable. What is really going above and beyond? Taking a risk that your client is going to stick with you for the long term and, when necessary, telling them to hold on spending now and save the budget for later in the campaign. If it’s in the client’s best interest, then it is yours as well.

From CMA blog

Advertising An Agency

Advertising is a funny business. Agencies tell companies how to go about advertising themselves, but its almost impossible for them to practice what they preach. I guess that's why Ogilvy or whoever it was always said "it's about the work".

If you were looking for Toronto Advertising or Winnipeg Advertising Agencies, where might you look? The yellow pages? Google? If you don't have anyone to speak to for referrals, searching for someone to work with can be challenging.

I suppose researching the web is the most likely choice, but there are often times when the best choice doesn't show up in the top 10 too. Now that I think about it more, its a good reason to look at who is winning (or a finalist) for advertising awards. Glad I work at an ad agency and have to find the right one to partner with. It could take me forever to find one!

AAW Seminar - Creative Power Tools

Learn the 17 root appeals you need to incorporate into ad copy to make consumers buy.
Explore how each of these appeals can make your commercials score above average with consumers, and make the cash register ring with your advertisers.

Thursday, November 12, 2009
Canad Inns Polo Park - Ambassador 1
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Locals Know

A few ads from the Locals Know campaign.

Something about the simplicity...



Agency: DDB Vancouver
More at localsknow.ca

Mixx Canada

The Mixx Canada roadshow is coming up!

Schedule for both Toronto and Montreal Full-day Conference locations:
7:30am to 8:30am - Networking Breakfast
8:30am - Opening Remarks
8:30am to 2:30pm - Conference

Keynote Speakers Include:

Steve Rubel - Edelman Digital
Elizabeth Margles - Joe Fresh Style, Loblaw Companies Ltd.
Didier Mormesse - CNN International
Alan Li - ADTECH
Lars Bastholm - Ogilvy N.A.
And more...

Toronto
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Carlu Theatre
444 Yonge Street, 7th Floor

Montréal
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Sheraton Centre Montréal
1201 René-Lévesque Blvd W.

Other cities for a half-day roadshow...


Halifax
Monday, Oct. 5
Pier 211055 Marginal Road

Ottawa
Tuesday, Oct. 6
Canadian War Museum1 Vimy Place

Vancouver
Wednesday, Oct. 7
Pan Pacific Vancouver300-999 Canada Place

Calgary
Thursday, Oct. 8
Stampede - BMO Center20 Roundup Way SE

Advertising and Twitter

An intersting article at Twist Image blog entitled How Big Business Is On Twitter Without Being "On Twitter". Makes you wonder when (and how) Twitter will make some money.

Marketing to the ADD Consumers

Customers are ADD. They have no attention span. Good marketer know this and cater to this. We cannot change the consumer, we can change the message.

Grab their attention. Consumers need to be “woken up” and shook in order to even look at your marketing. This is why unique, outrageous and highly creative things can break through.

Keep it short. If the message is short they read it. If it is long, they do not. It is no surprise that instant messaging and twitter are hot. The messages are short. Cut the length of the message and increase the impact.

Keep it simple and intuitive. Customers will not stay long enough to figure out how to do things or to find where things are. Avoid redundancy.

Allow prospects to take action quickly. Have an obvious “order now” button. Have the phone numbers obvious. And good old fashioned call to action – tell the customer what to do.

What's This Twitter Thing?

Celebrities like Oprah and George Stroumboulopoulos use Twitter to inform TV audience about the guests in their forthcoming shows and generate interest and buzz about it. You can barely read anything online without hearing about it, and it seems like everyone has or is planning to join.

Over 60 percent of current Twitter users fail to return the next month, according to data from Nielsen Online. Is there an identifiable need for Twitting that could translate into a critical mass? Can twitter help expand the initial use by Innovators to Early Adopters?

It may be too soon to tell, but it looks to be an interesting way to communicate.

Safety First

Worker's Compensation Board of Nova Scotia



Agency: Extreme Group


An interesting campaign as of late was the prevent it series which used shocking and sometimes grotesque imagery to illustrate the dangers of not following safe work practices. Note that these PSA’s (Public Service Announcements) are fairly graphic and you should not watch if you are easily squeamish. In a few cases it was surprising that such TV advertisements were aired during prime time.

Sleep Over

Diet Pepsi's Sleepover ad reminds us growing up isn't that bad.



Agency: BBDO Toronto

Advertising - Science of Persuasion

A refresher for advertisers. Making funny ads is great, but every once in a while we need to remind ourselves that its about selling. A lot of great advertisements entertain, but sometimes fall short in terms of purpose.

Principles of Persuasion

1. Reciprocity: People give back to people who give to them (giving a gift sets the context for a future relationship - the key to making gifting work is giving the gift first)
2. Liking: People tend to say yes to those they know and like (focus on aspects you genuinely like in others, look for similarities, ways to cooperate, give praise)
3. Consensus: Look to what others are doing as evidence (people tend to base their decisions on what is appropriate for them to do by examining what others are doing - provide compelling evidence/proof or testimonials from individuals who are most similar to the prospect you are trying to influence)
4. Authority: Defer to the advice of experts (provide visual cues that trigger an authoritative position - also useful is admitting to a weakness, which then gives confidence about your honesty). Barak Obama does this very successfully as he often and repeatedly has said "I will make some mistakes," but I will learn from them and move on, or something to this effect.
5. Consistency: There is a personal pressure to stay consistent (people like to behave consistently to what they have said or done, so get them to make a commitment; best if the commitment is said in public, that it is voluntary, ie, a personal investment in it, and actively sought out - ask for the commitment)
6. Scarcity: An opportunity is more valuable when it is less available (this not only applies to things, but information too; present the offer as rare or dwindling, by what one stands to lose if they don't take-up the opportunity, provide exclusive information)

(borrowed from Influence by Robert Cialdini )