The Purpose of Advertising – Summary

This video summarizes the key points from my discussion with Former CMO for Coors and current Instructor of Advertising at the University of Colorado, Bill Weintraub, on the purpose of advertising. Click the play button below to view the summary video. If you want to view the original discussion in its entirety, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb8EI4g4Oyg&t=9s  […]

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The Purpose of Advertising

Here’s a video of the discussion I had with Bill Weintraub, Former CMO for Coors and current Instructor of Advertising at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Bill is a dear friend and colleague. Here, we discuss the purpose of advertising. I hope you find it helpful.

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THE SECRET TO BUILDING SUCCESSFUL BRANDS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Major League Baseball season is about to begin. I’m excited about taking in a few games, here, in Pensacola. It’s not MLB, but MiLB—Minor League Baseball. I will be root, root, rooting for the home team—the Blue Wahoos, a Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.  The upcoming baseball season got me reminiscing of rival MLB […]

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PUT KEY COPY WORDS TO WORK FOR MORE COMPELLING MESSAGING

We’ve recently begun work for a client in a therapeutic category where the right treatment can mean the difference between prolonging life or dying prematurely. As we do with every assignment, we review the client’s and their competitors’ messaging. In this case, there are 14 brands (including therapies with multiple brands) and 26 ads—14 targeted […]

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LEARNING FROM ONE WHO’S BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT

I recently finished reading SHOE DOG: A Memoir By The Creator of NIKE. It’s Phil Knight’s memoir of founding and building a mega-business. Revenues for the business in 2020 topped more than $35-billion.  The book chronicles the ups and downs, challenges and successes, of life as an entrepreneur and start-up. It reveals what has made […]

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MY LAST WORD ON SUPER BOWL LV ADVERTISING

Amazon’s Alexa, Bud Light, Hellman’s Mayonnaise, Frito-Lay, Sketchers, Tide, General Motors, Logitech, Square Space are among the many advertisers in Super Bowl LV. What do they have in common? They employed celebrities in their ads. Who? Mathew McConaughey, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Cedrick the Entertainer, John Travolta, Michael B. Jordan, Mike Myers, Serena Williams, Will […]

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THE BEST SUPER BOWL LV ADVERTISING?

I’m going to go out on a limb. I’m going to assess the highest-rated Super Bowl LV advertising according to the USA TODAY Ad Meter.  The advertising is for Rocket Mortgage, which aired two 60-second ads featuring comedian Tracy Morgan. This is the first time in 14-years that two ads from the same brand scored […]

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GET THE WORDS RIGHT…TO GET THE WORK RIGHT

“You should think of each word in the Creative Brief as similar to each word in a poem:  consciously and carefully chosen, and always conveying precision of meaning.” Former Johnson & Johnson CMO and Consumer Products Division Head It sometimes seems like we have been writing all of our lives.  While our weekly DISPATCHES are now in […]

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HALL OF SHAME SUPER BOWL LV ADVERTISING

Will Ferrell is one of my favorite comedic actors. I don’t know Kenan Thompson nor Awkwafina. It must be a generational thing. Yet, all three starred in the GM (General Motors) “No Way Norway” 90-second TV spot aired during Super Bowl LV. This ad totally missed the mark. The only mark that counts—generating sales. It’s […]

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THE FUTURE IS NOW

The title of a FIERCE Pharma article announces, “Amgen cuts 500 U.S. jobs, primarily sales reps, as COVID-19 speeds a shift to digital.” The company is turning to its use of those digital marketing tools it employed during the pandemic for the long run. Amgen is re-engineering its commercial model to make it more effective […]

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