I believe that proper strategizing and planning will yield a better result compared to a hastily put together rush job. Racing against time, going without sleep, working non-stop under immense pressure, bashing with internal and external folks to get things done are stressful and nerve wrecking. I much prefer to plan ahead, get things organised and keep my sanity.However, every once a while, we’ll have a client pounding on our door, breathing down our necks to get a job done at lightning speed. It could be poor management, bad planning or just an unfortunate incident of emergency that could not be avoided. Whatever.

The questions boil down to does ad agency and design firm
- take the job at the usual price?
- add an additional mark-up for the extra efforts it has to put in? (a “rush fee”)
- reject the job because it will put other clients’ projects in jeopardy?
- reject the job because it doesn’t like to rush for urgent jobs?

I will talk about these over the next 2 weeks. Today, let’s start with taking the rush job without charging a rush fee.

Every company operates differently. Even if we are enlightened entrepreneurs with big hearts and are all prepared to pitch all that we have whenever the need arises, the fact is there are bills to pay every week, every month. Sure, the client understands but

“I have been supporting you for so long, surely you can make an exception.”

Now, that is a legitimate question and it needs a good reply. So how do ad agencies and design firm decide? Read the rest of this entry »

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I enjoy having guest writers to share their experience and view points here. Today, I have Calvin Warr disclosing why he prefers to hire an advertising agency compare to getting a freelancer.

Calvin has been in marketing for many years. From running his own studio to working in huge marketing teams and of course, have worked with agencies, freelancers and in-house graphics teams. He shares his thoughts and experience over at his blog where he declares “Marketing Should Be Fun”. In his own words, the funny guy “spends the rest of his time pretending to be on a diet.”

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Many small companies think that the most cost effective approach is to work with Freelancers. As a marketing professional, my take on this would be that it is the cheapest approach. When we talk about “cost effectiveness”, it is ironic that cost is only one part of the whole. And you know, that “effectiveness” part is sort of like very important.Don’t get me wrong. I love Freelancers. They are usually more creative, more daring and come up with much better ideas. Unfortunately, the one thing they do not have, is consistency. If you had a fantastic ad or poster created, then 3 months later, you want a killer direct mailer, who would you call? Why, that fantastic Freelancer, of course.

But he or she might have gotten married and moved to the Bermuda Triangle. Or found a job, at the neighbourhood deli getting great tips. You never know.

Working with agencies could be a real pain. Read the rest of this entry »

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A carefully crafted business slogan speaks volumes of it’s brand values and promises, successfully.

Do you know what crisis resulted in this campaign for New York City? Do you know when this slogan was launched? Who wrote it? Who designed it?

“I Love New York” campaign was launched in 1977. There is a sad, sad story behind this slogan.

New York City almost collapsed in February 1975 when underwriters withdrew from a $260 million bond issue. 300,000 workers were laid off, schools were closed and New York City started to stink when cleaners went on strike. To restore order and to rebuild the slumbering city, the New York Commerce Commission decided to market New York City as a tourist hot spot so that revenue can be generated. Naturally, they hired an ad agency. Basically, what Wells, Riche and Greene did, is to create an identity for New York City. WRG created the now famous “I Love New York” slogan because of the love and affection the New Yorkers have for the city. 30 years on, it is still going strong since it’s inception in 1977 . Along with the famous slogan is the equally iconic “I Love New York” logo, designed by Milton Glaser, and the official “I love New York” song composed by Steve Karmen. With celebrities like Frank Sinatra, Morgan Fairchild and Yul Brenner helping to promote New York City, the tourists came. Soon, the tourism dollars put the city back to solvency

Since then, merchandising of “I Love New York” such as T-shirts and coffee mugs are souvenirs tourists love to bring home with. “I Love New York” Broadway Musical is still being played. Of course, the I Love New York logo is a registered trademark of the New York State Department of Economic Development. However, that did not stop many other cities and states to imitate the “I “Heart” … … ” text, font, icon etc.

WPG Group (now a unit of BDDP Worldwide) handled “I Love New York” until 1991; then it went to McCann-Erickson New York.

If you have read this post till here, do spare another 5 minutes to take a look at the origin of the “I (Heart) New York” ad campaign written and produced by a New York state high school student, Emily Egan. It is a remarkable video which provided some of the information above.

Check out more such slogans filed under “Famous Business Slogans” category. Learn from these world renowned establishments and see how you can create your own personal or corporate persona. Alternatively, I’m just an email away.

Read Related Post

7 Famous Business Slogans of 20th century

Technorati Tags: slogan, business slogan, company slogan, corporate slogan, famous slogan, popular slogan, advertising slogan, brand value, branding, brand, eBay’s slogan, “I love New York”

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A carefully crafted business slogan speaks volumes of its brand values and promises, successfully.

Especially one that has been in use for 33 years.

When Heineken entered the British market in the late 1960s, the brewing industry was targeting manufacturing workers who preferred weak ale. So the Dutch brewer eschewed its normal 5 per cent ABV premium-strength lager and, under a licensing deal with Whitbread, Heineken introduced the weaker Heineken Cold Filtered with an ABV strength of just 3.4 per cent. It was thirst quenching, light and refreshing which taste remarkably different from the traditional ale. Supported by the “Refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach” campaign, it was soon shifting more than 100 million pints a year. By the 1980s, Heineken had become the UK’s best-selling beer, with more than 500 million pints a year being consumed. Well, good things came to an end when the Britons developed a taste for stronger continental lagers. Sales of Heineken Cold Filtered plummeted as the weaker brew was dismissed as cooking lager and, even worse, drinking lager. When Heineken’s contract with Whitbread expired in 2003, it scrapped Cold Filtered and began importing all its beers directly from Amsterdam. Read the rest of this entry »

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One of the problems faced by many agencies must surely be telling clients why they have to “pay more”. Premiums are never easy for clients to accept. Some examples of premiums are:

• Urgent, overnight film production
• Placement loading (right-hand page, back page…)
• Color proofing

I am sure you can think of many more instances. But nowhere is it more difficult than with outdoor advertising. Clients just cannot seem to understand that effort and costs are incurred to ensure that their billboards are well taken care of. They wonder what they are paying for, month after month. Well, the next time they wonder, just show them this “15 Unfortunately Placed Ads” and tell them how fortunate they are that their ads are handled so, so very well. Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: advertising, billboards, premium ads

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As a client, do you believe your creative agency is behaving all high and mighty? They knock you down with every feedback you have given them. They simply don’t listen and they just won’t do things your way.

In an interview with exchange4media, Richard Pinder, Regional Managing Director, Leo Burnett Asia Pacific had this to say:

“Clients by and large are pretty hopeless in making a difference in the creative process. Their products are fantastic and they are pretty famous but I think I will listen to the guy who gives me the creative advice. I am not saying that I am arrogant but the clients should listen to the agency, that’s why good agencies are rolling on.”

I do concede that some of us are arrogant but most of us simply want to get a great job done. And yes, there are times we do believe with all sincerity and honesty that we know more than the client, and that we are right. However, that does not mean we don’t listen. Ad agencies, design firms and even independent creative/copy folks do appreciate feedback and input from clients. Yet, we do get some inappropriate and even ridiculous instructions from our clients sometimes. Read the rest of this entry »

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Solomon Raju is a long-time reader of this blog. He has a deep passion for words and recently he has decided to go full time into professional copy-writing. In the past few months, he has gone through many ups and downs and he is sharing his thoughts here with us as my guest writer.

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How well known must a copywriter be to make clients consider you?

This thought strikes me often. I guess every copywriter who wants to be on his own- instead of working in an agency – will at sometime or other have such thoughts. Those lucky enough to have worked on big ticket accounts in an agency, may have an advantage; but without the glitter of the large agency, he or she can also lose the advantage. Given the clients’ propensity to be overwhelmed by the size or reputation of the agency (real or perceived), it’s always a question of having some well-heeled and glib-talking or suit clad marketing professionals to win you the big accounts. But if you take some time to analyze what is said, you’ll know if the person is worth his salt:

The work speaks… if you’ve the heart to listen. Read the rest of this entry »

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Some of you might not have seen or heard of this slogan but it is well known within the salt industry and the advertising world.

Number 9 in AdAge’s Top 10 Slogan of the 20th Century, this slogan lives on since 1914. That’s 93 years! The only slogan I knew that reigns longer than Morton Salt’s slogan is Maxwell’s “Good to the Last Drop”.

The famous Morton Umbrella Girl and slogan, “When it rains, it pours”� first appear on the blue package of table salt and in a series of Good Housekeeping magazine advertisements. The slogan is adapted from an old proverb, “It never rains but it pours”. The official website of Morton Salt said:

In 1911, Morton’s first advertising campaign for a series of ads in Good Housekeeping created the idea for the girl and her slogan, “When it Rains it Pours.”

One of the concepts presented to Morton was an image of Read the rest of this entry »

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