In the book Visual Literacy by Richard Wilde, there’s an exercise that I have had our creative department – and other groups (including a group of Boy Scouts recently) – try to tackle. I hand everyone an identical page with five rows of six circles. The challenge? In three minutes, turn as many of the […]
branding
Tricks to Effective Brainstorming
What Kind of Funny Name is Richter7?
May 6th, 2010Nary has a week gone by without someone asking me, “What does the name Richter7 mean?” “Why did you select that name?” “Does it have anything to do with the Richter scale?”
Here’s the answer. Yes, it does have something to do with the Richter scale. Richter7 is a metaphor for moving and shaking, for breaking […]
Dove for Men vs. Old Spice
February 16th, 2010Perhaps you saw the bold move by Dove to branch into men’s products with this ad:
Old Spice responded with this:
Point to Old Spice. Why? Well, it’s a lot easier to talk to a target demographic if you’re brand is already built up around said demographic. Dove was making a huge leap from decades of speaking […]
Give me differentiation or give me death
January 12th, 2010
One afternoon not long ago I took a moment to sit down and read the morning newspaper. I’ve always been an afternoon newspaper guy. (Deseret News, can you hear me?) Immediately, frustration set in — not with prognostications about the recession, but with the advertising content.
I noticed a local grocery store insert – jammed […]
Part 2 – How Branding and Marketing Can Benefit the Undead
October 29th, 2009(This is part two of a two-part series on what those dwelling in haunted residences can do to better lure in unsuspecting victims. Click here for part one.)
In my previous post I discussed how the majority of individuals living in haunted residences have severely limited their target market by clinging to age-old ideas […]
We live in a time of rapid evolution. Economic models are being turned on their heads. Newspapers are folding. The music industry is being forced to change and Hollywood is sure to follow. But this change isn’t limited to media. It’s also time for your garden-variety undead person to reevaluate how they do things.
Audience: I […]
It was a sub-freezing December evening in Brno, Czechoslovakia, 1938. Inside an ornate theater, however, public opinion was about to heat up following the premier of composer Serge Prokofiev’s unexpected score for the famed ballet, Romeo and Juliet.
Although Romeo and Juliet is now regarded by many as Prokofiev’s finest work, soon after it’s unveiling, critical […]
We’re huge in Japan
August 14th, 2009Our work for the Utah Museum of Fine Arts was featured in the Nikkei Marketing Journal. The only “Nikkei” I’d ever heard of was this girl I was in a relationship with in junior high. (It didn’t end well and I don’t want to talk about it.) Apparently, they’re the equivalent of the […]
Why I paid $20 for a water bottle
August 3rd, 200910…er…9 Social Media Blunders that Can Destroy Your Brand
June 18th, 2009An interesting post by Wendy Piersall over at Sparkplugging discusses 10 Social Media Blunders that Can Destroy Your Brand. While I think it’s a good post, I disagree with the second-to-last point (#9?):
Show up as a company spokesperson, brand representative, sales executive, or anything else other than simply showing up as a real human […]