Uhhh-MER-ka!: The Right Time?

Above is an excellent example from Dodge of a recent slew of American Pride focused ads. Some others include the Walt Whitman Spots for Levi’s and the American Made Jeep ads. Although we haven’t seen this strong of American Made focused advertising since the end of World War 2, is it the right time to bring it back?

I feel I would be one to give a resounding yes. With the economic woes, environmental disasters and looming threat of guerilla attacks makes me feel a greater connection to my country and the people around me. The new advertising isn’t saying just, “Buy American” its positioning these brands to have the same attributes that our country has been historically known for: innovation, youth & freedom.

Yet I’m curious what others think? The right time or not?

The Rise of Wanky: Here to Stay?

Recently, within a few product categories, there has been a rapid increase of the wanky ad.

First evident in TBWA’s Starburst followed by Crispin Porter Bogusky’s VW & Burger King and now with Wieden + Kennedy’s Old Spice stealing the show with their latest slew of “Smell Like A Man, Man” ads. The question is are these ads shifting pop culture or vice versa has a new generation of dry humor, evident in the target market, given way to wanky ads to grab attention? The viral pop culture success of Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man could Smell Like” proves that this advertising, whether or not sparked by the target market, is at the very least able to spread quickly when the target’s sense of humor is imbedded in it.

The question is, is this a passing fad or a method of cutting through the clutter that will continue to prove successful?

Are Brands Dead?

With the rise of short lived digital experiences, the removal of coke from Cost Co and the reduction of major name brands from the shelves of Walmart, the question on many people’s minds is: Are brand names still powerful?

At present, major name brands are putting more attention on creating utility for their consumers and straying away from big budget commercials. An example of this is Pepsi deciding to not run any super bowl ads this year and instead invested that money into charitable giving driven by the consumer. Yet, is this really a mark of straying away from inflating their brand? In the end, we are going through hard economic times and companies are being judged more than ever when looking at what they are doing for their consumers. Pepsi can with hold from doing brand ads and give the money away instead because they already have such a strong brand clout from previous years.

In the future, many are predicting that brands will have to move away from heavy branding because consumers are wanting to live within their means and see it reflected in media. Yet, shifting from showing an extravagant life to one of means isn’t the removal of brand. Branding can just as easily be about living frugally or responsibly. Toyota is an excellent example of this from leveraging their minor green traits they have created a cult following and even in spite of their major recalls, polls consistently show that their consumers still believe in them. By investing in their customer base, their customers are willing to forgive them.

In the past, the great Marlboro Friday scare in 1993 created the declaration that the brand name was dead. Yet since 1993 strong brand names have been established or reestablished to have created stronger cult followings than we have seen in the past including Target, Toyota and Apple. So is this latest declaration another fable or a true shift in advertising?

Although this economic climate could mean the death to some brands often it’s the ones that forget that they need to continue to grow, change and innovate to stay on top. Just because the brands are moving into the digital space doesn’t mean the brand is dead but simply that it is yet again adapting for the better.

The Asset of Being You

One of the hardest lessons for me to learn, as a young art director, was that your personality and quirks often can prove to be an asset.

I began my working career at Target and Starbucks. Both are good places to work and both are pretty strict corporations that ask that you leave your personality at the door and put on the brand face. When taught to, on a daily basis, remove your personality when at work, it becomes difficult when asked to express myself regularly at an agency.

Although not every career expressly wants you to be yourself on a daily basis, no one wants to work with someone that is dull or rude. When interviewing for design and art director positions at agencies, I’ve found that the agencies that were always heavily interested in me were the ones in which I was very relaxed and simply being my normal, odd self. By being someone that is naturally happy and spreads humor to others I have an asset outside of my ability to create good work and pitch it well to clients, I have the ability to help create a stronger team through being myself.

Yet, the hardest lesson to learn for those that have radically different or unusual personalities is the necessity to do what I call, “Easing people into your crazy.” By with holding much of your personality initially to gauge others, find your niche and allow for your personality to gradually come out, you become a natural fit. On the other hand, being extremely out there from day one can often create apprehension, unease and the feeling of being ostracized from the group.

So in the end I’ve found the best practice is to show your personality, craziness and all; but, don’t jump the gun (ease people into your oddities).

Why I Love My Clients

One of the hardships for an entrepreneur is giving up control and placing full trust in a new agency.

When working with an agency it can be difficult to emotionally remove themselves from the way their product or service is being marketed. As a result, they can often become a micro-manager in the creative process, wanting to say too much at once or potentially highlighting an asset that won’t resonate with their target market.

The important thing to remember as an entrepreneur, is to allow each person and organization to fully bring their expertise to the table. In doing so, they can have even greater business results than they had hoped for.

That is why I love my current clients. They understand this fundamental truth, give their incredibly logical feedback and at the end of the day allow for us to do something great for them that will hopefully yield even better results than they originally hoped for.

The question is though: When a client is micro-managing, what is the best approach for helping them understand this fundamental truth and who, within an agency, should be leveraging the agencies strengths?