I’m a copywriter. It’s a job where you think of ways to get people to do things. Specifically, in messages as they exist in advertising. Billboards. Print ads. Facebook ads. Google ads. Television. You get the picture. Over the years when I tell people what I do, one of two things happen: 1) The person asking needs a full explanation of how my job fits into the real world, or 2) They understand what I do and want to know…
A wise person once told me that when something is free, it isn’t. Since about 2009, we’ve all grown accustomed to using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to share our lives, read the news, and keep in touch with friends and relatives. And the most amazing part about this is that you can use these platforms for FREE. All you have to do is turn over an email address and you’re in. An email address is a direct…
I used to love Super Bowl ads. But, as the partner of a marketing firm in 2018, I can barely tolerate them now. Sure, some are quite clever. Memorable, even. And yes, I’ll watch them on Sunday. But the truth is, I see through them now. Whereas at one point doing a SB ad was the pinnacle of being an Ad guy, today I realize that there’s more to a :30 second spot than to flex creative muscle. What matters…
I’m a writer who makes his living in marketing. I’d rather save whales and write adventures about it, but I get paid to position brands so that they grow. Marketing pays the bills, even though it means competing in an oversaturated field chock full of conmen with blue checkmarks on Twitter. And I’m pretty good at what I do. There’s a big difference between knowing how to run a Twitter campaign and understanding the idiosyncrasies of a brand to make…
Last night at some point I went onto Facebook to see people raving about an ad for 84 Lumber that caught everyone’s attention. I’m a big proponent of advertising that’s different, and this one was. It was beautifully shot, directed, acted, and scored–it was an Oscar contender. But … it was a cliffhanger. You had to visit the 84 Lumber website to see how the story ends. Only, the site crashed due to traffic. Do you mean to tell me…
Racism, like any extremist view, is an idea. And you don’t “fight” an idea. You manipulate it until they see things the way you want. Trust me, I’m in advertising. Each year roughly 600 billion dollars is spent globally on advertising. It’s an incomprehensible amount of money. But the reason is simple–people are influenced by tactical messages. You can convince anyone of anything if you have a great plan and solid execution. Not all advertising is effective, however. In fact, most of what I…
