by: Daniel / Oct 3, 2011

Boom doesn’t do trade shows very often, but oddly enough, we like them. Yes, they’re cheesy. Yes, they’re laden with weird plushy toys and chocolate bars in the shape of dollar bills (and stranger things). Yes, participants occasionally devolve into drunken spectacles. And the schmooz factor is, well…beyond words.

And yet, trade shows are a blast when you take the right mind set.

Last week, Boom attended the Northwest Credit Union Association convention in Tacoma. We were one of more than 100 vendors. As a vendor, the main value isn’t so much “making the sale” as it is rekindling old friendships and developing strategic partnerships. (never did I believe we would use those two words, but here we are.) We left energized and optimistic. Whether you work in a credit union or as a credit union vendor, they are a great way to recharge your batteries.

And we got a chance to show off our new sort of holographic illusion booth display. A micrososm of the Boom office, it was a hit at the show. Some people gawked and stared and touched it. Others walked by with perplexed expressions.

It wasn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but that’s what we wanted.

by: Daniel / Jul 20, 2011

Any beauty pageant fans out there? Maybe some, but 99 percent of the civilized world recognizes them for what they are – anachronistic, outdated cattle calls of superficiality. Plus, they’re just plain gross.

At Boom we think agency pitches are exactly the same as beauty pageants. Boom reluctantly enters the occasional pitch, but we don’t like them. Here’s why:

Nobody is truthful in pitches
Especially potential agencies. Why? Because you will be told exactly what you want to hear to get your business, nothing more. As opposed to a real relationship, the solutions aren’t realistic. Your company’s flaws aren’t discussed. The stuff you need to hear never comes out. Often the creative presented isn’t the creative ultimately executed because while the idea is great, it is often an unrealistic idea intended solely to get your business.

They are a horrific waste of resources
Competing agencies will work around the clock to make their presentations. You may think that they’re a great way to choose from a bunch of creative solutions from competing entities, but in the end you do pay. Trust us on this.

You often get recycled work
This is not work based on a relationship, but a cattle-call. Off-the-shelf solutions and work that was used in the last pitch come in pretty handy in these situations.

They are bad karma
You are pitting someone against someone else because you can. Doesn’t that feel just a tad bit creepy?

Play the field, and you are going to get back what you put out.

Tags: Advertising pitches, Agency selection, Bad Karma, Tiaras, Toddlers

by: Daniel / Jul 19, 2011

Sometime, somewhere, God knows, perhaps in backwoods 1930s Mississippi, a group of frumpy, real estate agents conjured up a notion that has cursed the advertising industry for as long as we’ve all been alive. They said:

“You need to put yer sales rep’s picture on a billboard. That ought to git them customers a’comin!”

Ever since that fateful day, the earth has been littered with ugly, Olin Mills-inspired pictures of insurance salesmen, real estate agents and financial brokers. Replete with awkward smiles straight out your worst yearbook nightmare.

Earth to whoever is doing this: NO ONE GIVES A RIPE CRAP WHAT YOUR SALES REP LOOKS LIKE.

There is only one acceptable place to put someone’s ugly mug on an advertisement and this is it – if you lost your dog or cat or God forbid, your kid. About the only thing these blights on the urban landscape are good for is their comedic value. So if you must run ads picturing your ugly mug, do it for a laugh. Because that’s all it’s going to get.

Tags: Olin Mills, pictures in ads, sales reps

by: Daniel / Jan 3, 2011

Dear Boom,

Is social media really for credit unions? My teenage son hates the idea of his credit union asking him to become a fan. When I asked him about this, he said all of his friends have their money where their parents do or where their employer told them to set up direct deposit. And when he needs a loan, he said he’ll just ask me where to go. But everyone says, ‘you must absolutely have a presence on Facebook.’ Tell me why…really, but don’t tell me it’s because hundreds of people are joining credit unions or applying for loans because of Facebook. Do you have a response from a financial institution who is using social media and getting phenomenal results in new members and loans?

Socially Eire-sponsible

Dear Eire,

I dare you.  I double dog dare you.  Walk outside the door of your credit union right now and pose this question to a random stranger, any age. You already know what the answer is going to be don’t you?

At the risk of sounding like a big old sack of no fun, I’m going to come right out and say what everyone outside of the credit union world is thinking (in the words of my daughter):  “You want me…to be…a friend…of your credit union?…long incredulous pause…why?”

Let me be clear. I like Facebook-stalking as much as the next person.  I did my obligatory two week Facebook frenzy at first.  I connected with people I never thought I would hear from again.  I like it for that. But in true marketing fashion, advertisers have managed to whore out a perfectly good student networking medium for our own manipulative, yet highly irritating, ends.

But what do I know? Because he is 26 years old, Chris in our office automatically qualifies as our director of Gen Y marketing. (He also takes out the recycling.) Chris says a credit union social networking presence has some validity so long as:

“You keep your humility about it. You’re not a celebrity. You’re not a rock band. You’re not someone I want to meet up with for coffee.  YOU’RE A F***ING CREDIT UNION.  You provide a valuable service. I want to know how your existence will benefit both of us and that’s about it.”

Our goal (and we’re not always successful by the way) is to create something that isn’t an utter and absolute waste of somebody’s time. In the end, we want people to somehow feel a little better by coming into contact with you and what you have to say.

So, if you’re going to be on Facebook or Twitter, make what you say count.

Tags: Facebook, Social media, Stalking, Twitter

by: Daniel / Oct 13, 2010

Dear Boom,

Why the Hell does take three meetings of BS to get the real proposal from any sales rep in media? TV, radio, f***ing newspaper reps? It’s like buying a used car? Why does it have to be that way?
Lost Over Lawrence (Mass.)

Or why do they, after telling them EXACTLY what you want, keep trying to sell you their add-on packages? (It reminds me of the movie Fargo where Jerry Lundegaard keeps trying to upsell Tru Coat finish to all his customers.)  I especially enjoy the awkward powerpoint presentations that invariably stretch your logo in a horrifically incorrect way, as if that will somehow embolden you to commit your preallocated budget to their “Turkey Drive for Breast Cancer” promotion. But I digress.

Clearly the inner workings of the media rep mind are far beyond your or my comprehension, LOL. So I posed your question to one of my favorite media reps (admittedly not a high bar).  He said:

“The easy answer is that many of us actually came from the used car business and are very reluctant to give up our proven tactics. (“What will it take to get you to buy this today?”) But seriously, there is a lack of training in our industry on both sides of the table. Media buyers who don’t know what they want and end up sending out generic RFPs that don’t give any information or direction and media reps who only want to sell what they are told to sell (aka “this weeks special”). Because of this, sometimes it takes three or more meetings for the two sides to reach a common ground. Sad but true, and unfortunately it happens a lot. A good media rep will ask questions pertinent to your request in order to find out more about your overall strategy and then bring back a solution that adds value to the strategy. If you don’t have a good rep (and trust me they are out there) ask for a different one and maybe you’ll get one that actually works for you. If not you certainly have their attention now and if nothing else they should end up being much better listeners in that first meeting.”

Like all business relationships, your relationship with your media rep is just that – a relationship. As my therapist likes to say, you get back what you send out. Treat your media rep with respect and honesty. Don’t try to just squeeze out the best deal because you can. Be honest about your expectations. Tell them that the sales foreplay, while nice, won’t figure into your buy.

And if that doesn’t work, treat it like a bad disease and ditch ‘em fast. Because in this case, there really are other fish in the sea.

Tags: Foreplay, Mangled logos, Media reps, Relationships, Vultures

by: Daniel / Sep 30, 2010

I’ve been schlepping financial services for, oh, about 25 years now, and truthfully I’m running out of ideas. Really, how many different ways are there to market auto loans, or online banking, or the most boring of boring…certificates. Sure, everybody needs financial services, but there’s just nothing sexy or exciting about them. Any suggestion on new ways to make this stuff interesting?

Yawningly yours (YY)

Congratulations YY. As the first person to write, you could have tossed me a slow, easy lob. But no, you play hardball and hurl a 90 mph question for which there is no easy, gracious answer.

So, I’ll hurl one right back. That is because, you YY, work in a very boring field. This does not mean, YY, that you personally are boring. But no matter how many times you try to dress up a pig, there it is. Staring you in the face wallowing in its own filth.

Like you said YY, there is nothing sexy nor exciting about these products. (The auto loan is somewhat debatable. There is something to be said about having the means to satisfy one’s midlife crisis in a manner that is both legal and non-harmful, but I digress.) Having some stock photo Gen-Yer acting like your online banking will somehow make him or her cool is patently lame and will be ridiculed.

So I suggest you pull a complete reversal. Celebrate how freakishly mind-numbingly, brain cell depletingly boring these offers truly are. Own it. Work it. Revel in it. And you know what, you might find yourself with a truly creative campaign.

Yoda has spoken.

Tags: Credit Union, Financial Services, Pig, Schlepping, Yoda

by: Daniel / Sep 24, 2010

If you are reading this you are almost certainly a marketing person. Or a branding person. Congratulations.

As you probably noticed we finally gave a facelift to a website that hadn’t been updated since the Civil War. In all fairness, we have been really, really super busy with projects. Of course that’s no excuse. We never updated the damn thing, and, if you were ever so bored as to visit our site occasionally, we know you looked at the same stuff over and over.

So this is our super solemn pledge to you. We will update this blog on a regular basis. But we need your help. Write to me about anything related to or not related to advertising/branding/marketing, etc. Sort of a Dear Abby or Dr. Ruth style with boring marketing scenarios in place of cheating spouses and hard to identify infections.

It’ll be fun. You may get some valuable information. And you’ll us keep this marketing blog going. Write me at daniel@boomcreative.biz.

Tags: Marketing