I came across a pretty great podcast at the radicalcareering.com Hog Blog the other day. It was an interview between the author of the blog, Sally Hogshead, and advertising legend Luke Sullivan. Sullivan relates his perceptions on the direction that the industry is taking and the steps young professionals can take to do good work. Event though the podcast was recorded a year ago, the information is still really relevant. Here's the link.
I'm not usually in the habit of tooting my own horn when it comes to this blog, but I thought, since most of my readers are also looking for internships or jobs, I should take a moment to share my success. I figure that, if there is some kind of Karmic or Zen force working in the world, my good luck can somehow rub off on someone else.
Recently, I was hired to work for the summer as a copywriting intern for a mid-sized Chicago ad agency. It should be a really great experience for me, and I'm very eager to learn more about the creative process inside of an agency setting. While I'm unsure as to the actual amount of copy work I'll be doing, it'll be worthwhile no matter what to see firsthand how an ad campaign comes together from conception to rollout.
In keeping with the spreading of good vibes, if anyone else out there wants to share their achievements (getting a new job/internship, graduating, etc) send me an e-mail at robfrappier@gmail.com. I'm thinking that it might be cool to make one of my future posts a list of congrats for all of the marketing students out there.
I read an interesting article at AdAge today about some of the product tie-ins for the upcoming movie "Speed Racer". These tie-ins can include anything from product placement to specially branded "Speed Racer" products. Mega brands such as Mattel, General Mills, McDonalds and Nintendo have entered into partnerships with the film which shows how big of a deal this type of marketing can be.
Reading the article got me thinking about some of my favorite movie tie-ins from the old days. Does anybody remember the collectors edition glasses McDonalds released for the movie Batman Forever?
I really wanted to collect all of those things, but I could never get my little 9 year old hands on the Two-Face cup. I think I might have drunk exclusively from the Riddler glass for a couple of weeks at one point. Anyways, what other movie tie-ins from our youth can you remember?
So I don't have a business card. I probably should now that I'm officially done with college and am actively seeking a job in the real world. Then again, I'm not exactly sure what to put on it. I mean, what do fresh out of college grads put on their business cards?
"Rob Frappier.....hire me."
The whole prospect is somewhat daunting to me. It's not that I'm scared to approach someone. On the contrary, I'm really great at social interaction. It's just that there's something about the exchange of business cards which seems weird to me. It's like your personality has to be reflected in the card. But how can you do that if you're only dealing with a 3 1/2 by 2 inch paper rectangle? Well, you could, quite literally, think outside of the box. The business card doesn't have to be boring. Just check out some of these examples from all over the world. Here's one of my personal favorites.
Okay, okay, okay. I know my usual position on creative advertising is, "Awesome! Wow! Gosh, that's really neat-o!", but not today. Today, thanks to a startling post from MarketingProfs DailyFix Blog I am not awed by the innovation of marketers, but rather terrified of it. Why you might ask? Simple. They've invaded our brains.
That's right. Marketers have begun delivering content directly into the head of consumers via new technology known as hypersonic sound. As detailed in this article at Wired Magazine, the hypersonic messaging works by delivering audio in a narrowly focused beam. Unless you are directly in the path of the beam, you will not hear the message. In other words, the one precious part of our selves which only we have access to can be broken into and filled with strange voices urging us to buy something or eat something or watch something on TV.
Can this be real? I mean, doesn't it sound like something out of science fiction? Worse yet, there's no legal precedent for this kind of activity, and since I watch a ton of Law & Order I know that having a legal precedent is key when dealing with a violation of someone's rights. So this type of invasive marketing will probably continue to exist until someone files a lawsuit against the company doing it which could take years to happen.
Needless to say, it's a strange new world in which we live and sometimes I just can't help but get the heebie-jeebies. Anybody else out there with me on this?
One of the best things about working in marketing is the people. Unlike a lot of office settings where everyone is buttoned down and repressed, my general impression of creative marketing firms is that they are much more easygoing and open. Because ad agencies need their workspaces to be creative and thought provoking places, the people who work them are generally a lot more loose and relaxed. I just can't imagine taking a job where the corporate culture is so severe that the feeling of leaving your job is actually more gratifying than doing it well. 
Creative ad firms are the types of places where you might find a handful of copywriters playing Rock Band on the Wii during a brainstorming session in one room and the CEO expounding on his newest tattoo in the next. I mean, how could you get a better work environment than that?
And if you are skeptical of how much fun ad pros actually get to have, I'd like to submit exhibit A. Watch the video below. What's more fun than sitting around and making up dumb games to pass the day away without getting in trouble for it? Amazing. Thanks to Clay Parker Jones of Hoffman York Chicago for posting his shenanigans to his blog.
Remember that blog post I wrote a couple back about the positive societal benefits of marketing. Well, it's stuff like this that makes that whole philosophy fall to pieces. Through an absolutely ridiculous and painfully unethical marketing campaign, a new energy drink called "Blow" is being foisted upon the impressionable minds of America's youth. 
Intended to look like a vial of cocaine, the powdered energy drink is supposed to be a fun tongue-in-cheek take on party drugs. You know, those hilarious party drugs that are responsible for arrhythmia, convulsions, and respiratory failure. It's reprehensible to me that something like this could find its way onto the market. Worse yet, the makers will probably cash in on it for millions of bucks.
From the press release: "Anyone offended by our product needs to lighten up and get a life". I'm the one that needs to get a life? Seriously? Sometimes I just don't know what this world's coming to. Would someone please comment on this and let me know that I'm not the last sane person left in the world?
Thanks to Darryl Ohrt at brandflakesforbreakfast for pointing this out.
It's always nice to see a clever and well designed ad. To me, it's the same feeling as hearing a good song or seeing a good movie. I appreciate the work that went into making the product and I wish that I had somehow been involved with it.
Anyways, here's a handful of ads for AT&T Wireless which I thought were pretty cool. Hahaha...handful. I didn't even mean to make a pun, I'm just naturally funny. 
Source: http://curiousphotos.blogspot.com/2008/04/creative-hand-ad.html
Greetings all. I just got back to Chicago last night from my wonderfully lazy spring break in Aruba. Yes sir, six long luxurious days spent lounging in the Caribbean sipping on Long Island Ice Teas and Rum Runners. But alas, despite my girlfriend's insistence that we stay and start a new life in the tropics, I had to come home and resume my regular life.
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So, having said that, I do have a juicy bit of marketing business to share. The ever important Ad:Tech convention is coming to the city of San Francisco in just two short weeks. Ad:Tech is one of the biggest and most well respected marketing conferences in the world. The emphasis of the two day event is to explore the ways in which digital marketing is being changed by new technologies and innovations. Past keynote speakers have included CEOs and Presidents of major advertising agencies and technology companies.
Many of my favorite bloggers will be attending the event and recording their impressions and insights. Keep your eye on the posts over at the Madison Avenue Journal where our old friend Paul McEnany, of Hee-Haw Marketing, will be a contributing writer.
Meet Jordan
