Copyranter has called this the best home improvement ever. And we agree 100 percent. When you're mind is on task and you have a job to get done, your mind is focused, your heart is in it. And you derive great pleasure from even the most simple of tasks.
Why? Because they are your tasks. And your tasks and the most important of them all. So it's not a stretch hammering a nail into a piece of wood becomes as big a production as displayed in this Horbach Home Improvement Store commercial.
more »
This SXSW coverage is brought to you by Red Square Agency. The agency that also brought you irreverence.
There's really nothing worse than rain during SXSW. Why? SXSW is in Texas. Austin, Texas. And it's supposed to be warm and sunny here. All. The. Time. Well at least during SXSW when the entire country decides to call it home for five days. Alas, we can expect sun only one of the five days during SXSW Interactive. But we're not going to let a little rain get us down.
And the rain isn't letting the marketers down either. Even more so than last year, the brands are out in full force. Even GE. Yes, GE. Now you might wonder, what the hell does a company like GE have to do with marketing or social media. Well they've set up GE Garages, a hands-on lab filled with their latest technology for people to check out. The Garage will enable people to create personalized products for themselves using laser cutters, 3D printers, metal inert gas welders, computer numeric control mills and more.
more »
Last night, American Express launched a program on Twitter that allows cardmembers to "tweet their way to savings" by syncing their AMEX card with Twitter at sync.americanexpress.com/twitter and tweeting merchant-specific hashtags to load couponless offers directly to their Card. When the cardmember makes a purchase in-store or online, an automatic statement credit is issued within days.
Of the program, American Express Vice Chairman Ed Gilligan said, "American Express is turning Twitter content into commerce by connecting Cardmembers to merchants and delivering real world value to both. With the continued convergence of online and offline commerce, our closed loop continues to enable us to bring seamless, relevant ways to connect our cardmembers and merchants on the most powerful social and digital platforms."
more »
This SXSW coverage is brought to you by Red Square Agency. The agency that also brought you speling.
ClickZ has an interesting piece on B2B brands an SXSW. As we wrote last year, SXSW has overwhelmingly been taken over by marketers leaving the geeks to grumble about their presence. Hey, things change. Go with it. There's really nothing else you can do.
Of the presence of B2B brands at SXSW, Eloqua's Jesse Noyes told ClickZ, "Some people tend to think of 'South By' as more of a consumer-facing event where the next big thing like Twitter gets launched. But you have a lot of B2B brands setting up booths next to B2Cs. You'll go to a panel and see the head of marketing for Adobe sitting next to Pepsi on stage. That's what makes it great."
more »
Here's a quirky campaign from Sheetz, a convenience store that's actually a restaurant. With five new commercial created by Tattoo Projects, the brand aims to inform 16-24 year old guys that it's, well, the place to be. And the campaign achieves this with whacky spots that feature oddities such as a beard growing contest, a dude becoming a bird, the Force ripping a girl's clothes off, a guy who becomes a super hero and other oddities. All of which support the tagline, "just because we don't look like a restaurant, doesn't mean we're not one."
more »
As you may have heard, many advertisers have pulled their schedules from Rush Limbaugh following the host's commentary on Sandra Fluke. Never one to shy away from controversy, dating site AshleyMadison, which enables hooks ups for married people, has offered to buy Limbaugh's canceled inventory for three months.
Of the offer, AshleyMadison Founder and CEO Noel Biderman said, "We do not believe Mr. Limbaugh should be penalized for expressing his opinion, especially in America. We are offering to step up and fill the void left by the corporations who have pulled their advertising. Rush has always been a controversial figure and we have always been a controversial service so we can relate."
Biderman sent a letter to Rush Limbaugh's business development director, Michael Soifer, with the offer. The letter, in full, is below.
more »
This new Mother-created work for Virgin Mobile takes a look back at Richard Branson's life and his seemingly forward thinking ways. It's a bit creepy but it's also funny. The ad supports the brand's A Higher Calling campaign and touts the provider's $35 all you can eat plan.
more »
After research indicated the lines were a bit blurry among British teenagers in terms of what constitutes rape, the UK's Home Office - with help from RCKR/Y&R - launched a campaign that asks, "If you could see yourself, would you see rape?"
The ad gives us the scene of a boy forcing himself on a girl. The camera then pulls back to reveal the boy watching himself with the girl. The question is then asked which urges the participant to step back and ask if what he is doing is right.
The goal of the campaign is to get boys to realize just what rape is and to urge girls to say no to unwanted advances.
more »
With a trio of new work from DDB, Skittles is continuing its mission to become the weirdest candy on the planet. In one spot, we have a dude dispensing skittles from his stomach. In another a school administrator admonishes a girl for running around with the wrong crowd and for letting them take advantage of her. And in a third, a boy explains to a girl he has Skittles-pox.
The third one is kind of lame but the other two do a nice job perpetuating the brand as the wackiest out there.
more »
Early last month, RSA debuted the the first in a series of three videos for Agent Provocateur. The first, called The Initiate, focused on a guy and two women frolicking in bed. The agency's descriptive puffery aside, we liked the spot. It does what any good lingerie spot is supposed to do. Make you believe you, too, can be as sexy as the people in the ad if only you slap some Agent Provocateur on your ass.
Now, RSA is out with the second installment in the series. Entitled The Muse, this ad features a model, French actress Mylene Jampanoi - also featured in the first video, sitting in Renaissance era garb as an artist paints her. Of course, paint her isn't the only thing the artist does to her. After adjusting her clothes a bit, mostly to further reveal her undergarmants, he embraces her as Jampanoi flashes the camera a knowing smile.
more »
|
