RedChip.com is an Investor Relations & Independent Research firm that
specializes in small-caps. I was asked to develop a national network radio
campaign to attract investors to the site. That led to a redesign of the home
page, and a highly successful test on WCBS-AM in New York. Then the client
decided to do everything in house.
RedChip22 is the index page for a Custom
Channel I built to keep RC staffers and geographically dispersed
clients up to date on work in progress.
Perhaps I can build one for you?
I ran this add once in the
Orlando Business Journal
and got five calls from local businessmen who
complained that it was much too intrusive.
Go figure.
What Can You Do Yourself?
Direct Mail Budgeting. This model uses a luxury home
development, but the principles apply to any product or service.
The Y&R Final Cut Copy Test. Devised at Y&RNY, this little
exercise helps CDs and HR Managers evaluate how well relative beginners can
think on their own with no supervision and precious little time. (I
had to pass this test to get out of Traffic and into Creative.)
BIG EVENT MEDIA. Here's an overnight plan for a firm who needed to round up 3,500 people for a really big show - this weekend only.
BUILDING A BRAND'S INTERNET
IDENTITY. I wrote this way back in 2003 when Bob Rusling and I
were trying to sell Fuel Charger Power Cells to diesel truckers and fleet
operators. The site is still
up, and I still get 10-15 orders a month, with no shopping cart!
CORPORATE BRAND INTERNET IDENTITY. Another shot at a
KW-rich landing page. This was an early exercise in FREE SEOPS, a
discipline soon to go the way of the TV antenna.
MS/Haiku
Chain Letter. In Japan, the Viaos replaced Microsoft
error messages with sympathetic haikus, which inspired a chain letter idea:
Add your own.
MARKETING STRATEGY SEMINAR
A
Typical Marketing Problem.
Before you begin the on-line course, take a crack at solving this very
simple communications problem.
Lesson Plans for
Advertising. Course Outline of five-part college-level or in-house
seminar on how to turnaround an existing brand or extricate a campaign from
corporate turf wars.
Turnaround
Ideas - Successful brands whose sales are stuck can use either of
two turnaround marketing strategies - Id Positioning or Turf War Resolution
- to overcome the fundamental human resistance to change.
Ego-Positioning
- Learn how Features & Benefits promotion may appeal to the Human Ego but
over time can encounter stiff resistance from the Human Id.
Id-Positioning
- This technique identifies and defuses persistent consumer "Yeah, buts..."
or Id-Factors and can give the Ego time to buy. Six examples. Discussion
guide.
Turf Wars -
Corporate Turf wars can often hobble good advertising ideas and marketing
strategies that require a change in operations. Recognize the phenomenon
then proceed to Pull Up Turf!
Pull up Turf!
- A bold marketing initiative can settle internal turf wars by focusing
warring factions on a common goal. Five case histories. Discussion guide.
WRITINGS
WITDOM Apothegmatic Musings
of a Restless Mind. Updated periodically.
Galactic Lunacy.
People behave strangely when the Moon is Full and the tides rise worldwide.
Lunar and Solar gravity, right? Is there another G-force that also makes us
crazy - twice a year?
Cranking
Phil Hendrie. This piece took much longer to write than the events
described took to occur. If you're a Hendrie fan you'll enjoy it. I did.
He didn't, much, I guess. A year later, it all came true! Ancient history
today, but fun.
"Bad Ads Are OK." Verbatim quotes illustrating what some
consumers and clients really think of this exquisite art form.
What Is A Copywriter? The
classic concept of the ink-stained wretch pecking out hortatory headlines
and laudatory fill has changed recently. We now have to "write" with
more than mere words.
