The Friday Wrap for Business

Each Friday morning we post The Friday Wrap.  It's a piece that looks at the news regarding advertising/marketing/branding and includes our commentary.  Here is the link to The Friday Wrap and if you want to leave a comment you can do that or join us on our Twitter Stream @InsightADV or our agency for advertising/communications Facebook Page is right here. Several topics this week:

• Logos - Round One:  Did you know you could spend as little as $69 for up to five sample "custom" logos?  You can but...do you really want to?
• Logos - Round Two: Our friends at ebay have just announced a re-do of their iconic logo.  Not much of a change but the design says much about what they were 17 years ago and where they want to be...tomorrow.
• Pink Slime: Beef Products, Inc. of Iowa has just launched a $1.2 billion dollar suit against ABC News among others.  This will be interesting to watch for all of us in the news/commentary business.
• Target Marketing: Let's say you want to target a specific group of consumers.  Here we show you the front, and the back-story, of how Hardee's and Carl Jr's hope to increase sales among young men.
• A Class Act - Toyota of Des Moines brands themselves with a class act.  Nobody paid us to share this story.  We just think it's cool.
• Re-Launch Party: This week the Social Media Club of Des Moines held a re-launch party.  We had some questions about where we go next. Here's the update in the comments section of this post, "We're In - Now What?".

Thanks for coming by.  If you want to read/see these stories from Insight on Business here, once again, is the direct link.  Thanks for coming by and have a wonderful weekend! - Michael Libbie

OK, We're In...Now What?

"If you get it, share it." That's the theme of the Social Media Clubs across the United States.  Last night in Des Moines, Iowa the Des Moines Social Media Club (#SMCDSM) re-launched during a well attended party at Exile Brewing Company downtown.  Lot's of energy, excitement but a noisy environment that made it difficult to hear our friends Mike Templeton and Suzanne Hull as they shared some general news.  

A couple of points:

• Ning is Gone - Up to this point SMCDSM has used an independent Ning site to gather and share information between members.  Mike Templeton told us last night the new group is abandoning that site in favor of a site associated with the "mother ship", SocialMediaClub.org.
• It Cost Cash - Our agency sent in $100 as a gesture of good-will and support of the new adventure.  Our friend Cinnamon Rost told us the fees to join the US Social Media Club came to roughly $1,000.  It will be interesting to see if there are additional fees and costs.
• New Board Members - A host of new board members were introduced, however the sound system was so bad we could not record and lacked...paper to write them down. I do remember Shane Vanderhart and Melissa Khodai-Burkheimer being mentioned. Who are we missing?

We were also missing some familiar faces but Drew McLellan did make contact and asked if somebody could have a beer for him.  

So, what's next?  What are we, they, us going to do next?  Re-launching is fun but now comes the work to get people engaged and excited about "belonging" to "the club".  Will it fit into the schedule?  Will there be meaningful learning and sharing events?  Will we have to say the Pledge, ring a bell and collect dues?  

We dunno...but it should be fun to watch and enjoy.  If you've got a comment or question you can leave that here or join us on Twitter @InsightADV or our advertising/communication agency Facebook page is right here.

 

Comments and Questions and Logos

We've used the business blog to share thoughts and strategy about our craft of advertising. It really is a craft. We don't make a thing other than create messages and ideas that drive consumers to our client's products/services. Like with any serious craft what we do takes time which is why I need to share this story.

One of the most commented on pieces we've posted is "How Much For A Logo?". It seems lots of people are interested in how much it costs to create a logo. Most of the comments have come from internet companies who make it their business to design cheap "off the rack" logos and they use our traffic to push their website.  It's something that we deal with all the time and we usually delete the comments and mark them as spam.  

However, on this post we decided to leave most of the comments intact. For no other reason than to share with you our strong belief that buying cheap is...cheap.  In our original post we said "...we don't know how much a logo will cost a client because the cost has so many variables". We think a custom logo that is built around the client is much better than buying a "stock logo off the rack" that might be in use in many other places. But, hey...that's us.

If you would like to leave a comment here, feel free or let's connect on Twitter @InsightADV or on our advertising/communication agency Facebook Page which is right here.  Thanks for reading!

Targeting The Message - Television/Video

OK, this will not be a PC post.  Our friends at Hardees and Carl's Jr. need to shore up support from young males so they cooked up this new "Memphis BBQ" TV piece called "BBQ's Best Pair".  Clearly it is...targeted.

 

Beyond the targeting of the message I hope you paid attention to the work that goes into creating a high quality television commercial.  Notice the equipment, the attention to detail...all for just 30 seconds.  

So, our question to you is this: When you're spending money to showcase your product/service on television or in online videos don't you think it's important to spend an equal amount of time and energy in the creative? 

You can comment here or follow us on Twitter @InsightADV or our advertising/communication agency Facebook Page is right here.

It's The Message Damn It!

Let's play a game.  Let's say you have a boat-load of money and you're going to design a campaign to reach millions of consumers.  What do you do?  Do you look to the past for success or do you inspire with a message about today and...tomorrow?

Go ahead think about it.

We would bet on the message regarding today and tomorrow vs. a nostalgic look backward and that is exactly how consumers are betting when it comes to sales of General Motors vs. Chrysler.  At the center of this is the General Motors campaign "Chevy Runs Deep" vs. the Chrysler campaign, "Imported from Detroit".  Consumers seem to be more in tune with a forward looking message rather than history.  Want some proof?  Here is a great article from our friends at Advertising Age that goes deeper into the story.

OK, so you don't have "boat-loads" of cash but you want to bump your sales.  What do you do?  We think you share a vision.  Borrow on the past for support but don't spend your entire budget telling folks how great you...were. Offer up a back-drop of being real and then how your product/service can look back but offer a better future.  

Nostalgia is nice for antique stores...

Thanks for coming by!  Feel free to comment here or our Twitter Stream is @InsightADV while or advertising/communication agency Facebook Page is right here.