Design One Creative, Inc.

Hello everyone. Today I feel like talking about naming rights. It seems to be a big topic of discussion lately. I was watching CNN yesterday morning and they posed a question to the viewers about teams building new stadiums in this economic climate. Of course most were against it, but hey, people, most of those deal were done years ago with construction, permits, contracts set up when times were still good. What are they going to do, stop and leave a big hole in the ground? Think outside your little rose-colored box once in a while. OK, I digress, back on topic (I’m exhausted already)…

Anywho, naming rights of sports venues. I grew up in Ohio and worshiped The Big Red Machine of the 70’s (that’s the Cincinnati Reds) who played in Riverfront Stadium. I’m pretty sure that was because the field was on the Ohio River, not because, let’s say, it was sponsored by Riverfront Tool and Stamp, Die or something. Same in Pittsburgh. Their stadium was on three rivers and it was named… wait for it… Three Rivers Stadium! It was much easier to say, “let’s go to Riverfront and catch a game,” than, “let’s go to Chevy Chase Bank field at Byrd Stadium and catch a game.” Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue. Plus, is it really smart to have anything named after a bank these days?

Good bad, or indifferent, one stadium has gone back to its roots. Not sure if the Giants wanted to or their corporate sponsorship department couldn’t get it sold, but their baseball stadium is once again called Candlestick Park. A classic name. Years ago, the naming rights were sold and it became known as 3Com Park. Oops. Then it became Monster Park (”Daddy, I don’t want to go to Monster Park!”). New stadium, old name. Good move.

There are a few stadium names I like: Ford Field in Detroit, Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. Relevant and simple. Even though I understand branding and marketing needs, let’s be a little more cognizant and clever with our sponsorships. We can say Anaheim Stadium presented by Edison International instead of the Edison International Field of Anaheim, can’t we? Until next time, stay down, keep moving.

Let’s just get right into it. HOW STUPID, INCONSIDERATE, INSENSITIVE, MORONIC (insert adjective here) DO YOU HAVE TO BE? Seriously. You may be asking yourself as you read this blog entry from a branding and marketing site, “Why am I reading this on a branding and marketing site?” Trust me, it counts.

I have been in some form of advertising, marketing or design for the better part of 18+ years, and have become pretty good at PhotoShop. And I’m a helluva lot cheaper than the $325,000+ it supposedly cost to execute a photo shoot of Air Force One and an accompanying F-16 fighter jet flying so close to Manhattan (1500 feet off the ground) that people working in tall buildings fled with a familiar fear.

9-11 will go down as one of those memorable days in history you remember exactly where you were, what you were doing and who you were with when it happened. The only other times that happened for me was when the space shuttle exploded and OJ Simpson was cruising down the highway in a white Ford Bronco.

Here’s the marketing angle. Obviously the government wanted a majestic shot of Air Force One and a trailing fighter jet glistening over Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, blah, blah, blah. I guess they would use it on their brochures, web site and souvenir t-shirts? Here’s a thought: I can hire a photographer (my wife, Jan is pretty damn good), head to the middle of the desert, have our government-issue planes fly over, ummm, NOTHING, we’ll snap a couple shots and put the memory card in our pocket for safe keeping. Then we’ll head to New York, grab the Staton Island ferry, get the captain to go real slow, snap a few shots of the skyline, the Statue of Liberty, a floating tire or two, and take that memory card, maybe it’s the same one, and put it in our pocket. Finally, I’ll return to my office in Charlotte, NC, pop the images into my Mac, open PhotoShop, merge the photos together and presto! Air Force One over Manhattan! Plus I could save the government a few bucks.

Thanks for letting me get on my soap box for this one, but I was literally sick to my stomach when I heard this story. I am not an overly-sensitive guy by any means but 9-11 was especially disturbing. I’ve been to Ground Zero. It sucked, in a way not meant to be a slam, I’m sure who know what I mean. My heart goes out to those poor people who lived through 9-11 and work in surrounding buildings, looked out their window and on an assumably normal day, saw what they interpreted as another attempt on their life, the lives of others, and further destruction of the seemingly safe United States borders most of us have grown to take for granted.

At least I hear they cancelled the next photo shoot over the Washington Monument. Aces, way to go!

No such thing. Thanks for reading! The End.

Remember the good old days? For me, as an advertising dude approaching the big 4 - 0, it sure as hell wasn’t the 60’s. And I basically grew up and ‘experimented’ in the 80’s, a decade full of one hit wonders, cheese ball movies and TV shows and hideously bad fashion. Yeah, I had a mullet perm and and wore parachute pants, ease off me!

The good old days in my long, but short advertising career was from the late 90’s till about four years ago. Image advertising just to keep your name out there was prevalent and quite complementary to your standard ROI (return on investment), call to action advertising. The economy was good, albeit inflated, and our clients had money to spend.

And then, our jobs as the advertising and marketing experts got increasingly more difficult. No longer could the saying, “there’s no guarantees in advertising” hold enough water. My clients wanted results, right now and for a fraction of what they were used to spending. “Assistant: magic wand, please.”

I’ve never worked harder for less money in my life. And I’ve never been able to spend less and less money and still get measurable results. I know, I’m truly amazing, right? Not really. The real reason it seems to work is compliments of the mortgage and banking industry, among others. They’ve driven competition out of most markets and lowered rates on most traditional media.

Advertising and marketing agencies have eliminated large chunks of image and branding advertising for the majority of all businesses in this country (see NASCAR sponsorships) and focused on ROI advertising. Let’s be honest, this sucks for most agencies. It’s hard being accountable for every dollar these days but it’s the state of the union as we sit here today. But it will change. The industry survivors will once again rebuild their image in the public eye with clever, memorable ads. Then competition will resurface in small sectors and capitalism will be alive and thriving.

Business loans, start-ups, big houses, money, money, money! Whoa, that was close. It was almost dejavu all over again…

Hello, all. Another post, we survived the first one just fine. What am I talking about today? How about product branding when it comes to placement in TV and movies? Take a walk with me over the years…

In one of the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve, I’m pretty sure he flew into a huge ‘Enjoy Coke’ sign, very clever. And who could forget Judge Smails in Caddyshack offering Danny Noonan a Fresca? Finally, when Drew Barrymore was with E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial, as he wanted to ‘phone home’; In came the Verizon Wireless crew, construction helmets, laptops, the geeky dude with the glasses and Member’s Only jacket, stating, “You’re Good!” Wait, maybe that will be in the remake.

Anyway, it’s starting to get carried away. Let’s take modern day TV. I guess I can understand the whole Extreme Makeover product placement angle, since you assume they are funding some of the projects. I’m sure ABC wouldn’t make a dime without them… But two TV shows come to mind: Desperate Housewives and The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

I stopped watching Desperate Housewives years ago, I mean, it got quite ridiculous, and find myself still hanging on Sarah Connor, but their respective automobile placement really smacks you in the face. These close-ups on the interior, bumbers, logos, etc. look like a commercial and frankly interrupt the flow of the show.

What happened to the clever subtlties of product placement? I would think ANY exposure in the media would be greatly appreciated these days. What’s funny is that if the two entities couldn’t come to some agreement, you’ll see a car or SUV going down the road without the emblem, even though we all know what it is.

It’s just weird and kind of insulting. I’m all for the subliminal advertising angles (as long as there aren’t any phallic symbols inthe Disney cartoons anymore) so let’s get back to creative ways of getting the brand across to consumers. Heaven forbid we start seeing poker players exploiting web sites and… oh wait. Sorry.

Hello everyone! I am a new blogger here and this is my first of hopefully many insightful, witty, blah, blah, blah posts. I apologize ahead of time, I haven’t shaved and my hair (what’s left of it) is just a fright! Anyway, this is what I’m thinking about today, I encourage reader participation and comments, it’ll be fun, promise!

A couple of weeks ago, I went to an MLM meeting with my wife. That’s a whole new topic, which I am not going to attack, I mean, talk about, today. I bring it up because the guy that has made a gazillion dollars out of hard work, networking, you’ve heard the script, brought up FedEx. He was talking about the arrow in the logo, if you haven’t seen it or noticed it, what’s the matter with you? The logo is below, see for yourself:

Anyway, it got me thinking… How many companies have done such a good job of branding their product(s) that it has become the standard for that particular type of product? What am I talking about? Who is this crazy person? Why am I reading this? Back it down, Sparky, FedEx is an example.

When you’re going to send a package or envelope overnight, how often do you say, “I need to send a FedEx.”? Even if you are sending something via the USPS, UPS, DHL, or any other acronym, people say ‘FedEx’. Get it?

Here’s one more for you, from here I want to see how many you can come up with. My wife and I had a dinner party with another couple a while back. We tried to come up with as many as we could and we were amazed. OK, back to the next example: TiVo.

I have DirecTV. I have a DVR that records all my favorite shows. Frankly, I catch myself telling people I TiVo’d that show the other night. Branding. It’s all the rage. If you are clever, or lucky, enough to have that kind of impact on the consumer, you get a gold star.

Let’s talk soon, I miss you already.

Mike