CoreyTess» Corey Tess

I am so sorry

Corey Tess — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:17:01 +0000

I am been totally neglecting my blog and I apologize. Not that the universe cracks or anything when I don’t blog, but it seems rude to start something and then just become absent with out an explanation. I started a new job back in April running a corporate marketing department and I am also in the middle of relocating from Los Angeles City to the LBC near the Pike.. watch our Foursquare Mayors in the area, here i come! Anyway, this means I haven’t had much time for blogging, but i still love you and here is a Robert McKee interview to prove it!

4 Things I learned from Old Spice Man About Marketing!

Corey Tess — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:03:31 +0000

Learn Marketing from the Old Spice Man!

Old Spice is like Oldsmobile… someone drives/uses them, but it certainly isn’t you or anyone you would consider having drinks with… right… Their new campaign featuring a hot man speaking only to WOMEN in a pseudo “romance novelish” series of scenes offering women tickets to “that thing you love” which quickly turn into diamonds is hysterical! This product truly suffered from being “out of style” and pigeon holded as something your Dad used that someone always gave him along with Soap on a Rope for Christmas. It was definitely not HOT or Modern!

The new campaign virtually resurrects OLD SPICE from the dead! Why is this so effective?

#1) Humor is a gift…

If you want people to love you and your product or service, humor is the #1 way to make them immediately appreciate and identify. WHY? because when someone can make us laugh, they have made us happy and brightened our day for a moment and that moment caused a positive reaction association with the product/service. Every time you see a duck or even Ben Afleck’s name.. someone shouts out AFLAC! and Geico has a series of great ads that made them a household name including the Cavemen, the Money with Eyes and the famous Gecko who originally would get wrong number calls from the phone book when people were looking for Geico (making the odd name a memorable image). Sex sells as they say, but can also offend.. HUMOR, you cannot go wrong with it!

#2) Viral Space & Have you seen this?

Whether it is the humor or the gorgeous man, this video has been shared millions of times since it aired and he comes up in conversation on twitter, facebook, myspace etc.. I have talked to my friends about him and heard women in the market talking about him.. BUT THE PRODUCT IS FOR MEN! Ah Ha! But like the AXE commercials TRY to show, men’s goal is to impress women… it is the ONLY reason they wear cologne in the first place (gay guys.. you just liked the ad because dude is hot! and anyway, nothing would persuade you to wear Old Spice and you know it- mmmWAH!) The ad conjuries up this man’s image with the mention of it’s name.. and men cannot possibly help but notice the reaction he causes, after a while, the image may fade, but the positive association to OLD SPICE remains and now it brings words like “Sexy, Rich, Funny, Hot” to mind.. Bravo!

#3) Keep it Brief! (or in briefs)

This ad goes by super fast.. they don’t waste a moment of air time and the urgency of his introduction and the set changes CATCH your attention! He is talking JUST TO YOU and he is moving fast.. the ad is over by the time you are able to react and you what? WANT TO SEE IT AGAIN! Lingering would have made it less funny and given you enough content to feel satisfied, however, his last words “I’m on a horse” cut.. the image is indelible, funny, sexy and GONE.. it leaves a great mark.. and you will most likely look it up on YouTube later or ask someone; “Have you seen that Old Spice ad?”

#4 Come Out of Left Field

Think about how many ads a day you see that are boring or extremely similar to other ads featuring similar products. One good example is Shampoo.. think for a moment about Shampoo ads.. aren’t they all the same.. they have a model with frizzy hair (or an actress we know from some tv show) she uses the product and we see some animation of how it nurtures the hair from inside, then the final shot – she is all glam now and her hair is so glossy it actually shines.. she spins or tosses her hair and says the tag line for the product and its over… BORING! Most ads stay in formula.. this ad comes out of no where, from it’s opening scene to the closing line, you are off kilter and have no idea where it is going… it surprises you. Approaching a product like Old Spice could have been similar to the ad for Aqua Velva that features a man playing catch with his son, then tossing him a bottle of the green liquid, then we see them shaving together – then the tag line.. BORING! Does that make ANYONE want to use Aqua Velva??? No, it is just as dowdy and old fashioned as ever! SURPRISE your audience and make them pay attention.. come out of left field!

These rules work for any product or service really. Something as serious as Insurance.. or as light hearted as Candy..

What are your favorite ads that follow this formula?

Advertising by Design

Corey Tess — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 05:43:31 +0000

Clever, Funny, Cute or Delightful….

Much of the advertising we see on a daily basis does nothing to enrich our lives and provides us with little more than a temporary distraction 80% of the time. Marketers rely heavily on your need to purchase a product or service and simply work to point you in the direction of their offering, but every now and then, you get a glimpse of something more… and that is what I went on the hunt for today… here are some of the delightful ideas I found that illustrate how Marketing can cross over into creativity and entertainment…

HOVER OVER IMAGES FOR MY COMMENTS, CLICK IMAGES FOR A LARGER PREVIEW OR TO DO A SLIDE SHOW:

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Social Media Snobs

Corey Tess — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 09:15:52 +0000

As I explore the possibilities of the new media I am amazed by its potential. I’ve tweeted over 10,000 tweets in the past year and have over 5,000 twitter followers .. which has been a blast. Twitter is like Breaking News on crack. If you are on twitter, or checking twitter the moment something important happens in the world, you are instantly aware – no need to wait till the evening news, or till you get a coffee break and check cnn.com. That is, if you are following the right people, in many parts of the world, who are well connected and like to RT (Re-Tweet) useful news and information… but in the midst of using the tool to my purpose (connection, news, film groups, events) I happen to have lost many of my real life friends and co-workers (not LOST as in we never speak.. LOST as in they choose NOT to follow me on twitter because I “tweet too much”.) Go Figure! LOL

Most of them seem to hold the belief that the media was mainly meant to convey the kind of daily prattle you might text to a small group of buddies now and then. “Going to be at Townie Bar tonight, who wants to come by and meet me?” , “Hoodies are on sale at the Old Navy on Main Street..” – that sort of thing. To be honest, I am rather exclusive when it comes to letting people know where I am and inviting people to join me out or keep tabs on me and though I play with the GPS apps on my iphone alot, I am pretty sure that I don’t want to be the story that will be on the news soon about the chick who tweeted all her where abouts and was stalked and killed by a follower… That having been said, I do play Foursquare, a game where you check in everywhere you go and earn badges or become the Mayor of said places.. but I always check in after I have already left the location, as a stalker prevention method. So back to these Twitter Snobs.. I wonder… Are there sets of people using twitter completely differently.. and is there a right way and a wrong way, as they propose? I, of course, like everyone else am annoyed by the spammers who DM you about getting more followers or buying some herbal drink from Trump Enterprises.. LOL.. but I doubt those tweeple are real people anyway…

A friend recently commented that my making a facebook fan page for myself made him feel like facebook was turning into MySpace.. of course this friend is a kid just out of college and we all know that they remember the days when facebook was simply a “we went or are going to the same school” dating service… (come on, you know its true). The founder has been very smart in realizing the tool allows for business connections to be made in a non-invasive manner and the powerful matrix allows content to rise quickly from obscurity to super fame in under a day through “sharing”.Think about Susan Boyles.. right now some sort of Metal Rooster is trending on popular videos.. it really is a marketing tool, whether you like it or not.. anytime over a billion consumers GIVE someone their data willingly, the founder would be a fool not to use that information to his best advantage. So sorry facebook snobs, but the media is too big NOT to be a marketing machine at this point.. it just wouldn’t make sense..

On the side of keeping in exclusive, I created my fan page because my friends page is shared mainly with people I have met in person and at 197 of those, I am still rather careful. I know there are others who have thousands of “friends” on their facebooks and you know that they simply add anyone and everyone… but you won’t find me snobbing on them.. they are using it to their purpose and not mine.

As for MySpace.. I think it’s main failing was in the lack of ease of use. Alot of people criticized it for a lot of other reasons, but it simply was not easy to use, add to and it was hardly mashable, even now, if you have a wordpress or other blog system, you are hard pressed to get your myspace to integrate.. where as twitter and facebook to a degree are mashable in a hundred ways with ease..

I am rambling here… but let me know what you think. How do you use “Social Media” and what are your pet peeves about how others use it?

Busy Bee Like Me!

Corey Tess — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 23:23:23 +0000

You guys, I have to apologize for my reticence. I have been so busy these past few weeks that I have not been communicating on my blog. I am now in Los Angeles and loving it. Getting settled and visiting all my old haunts has been great. I still have a lot of places to visit and a lot of people to see, but I have been putting most of my energy into finding my new gig. The truth is that this time I really don’t want to settle. I want to be truly happy with the work I do and feel it is not only earning me a buck, but also in some way being of service to the community and the world. I guess that is a lot to ask for from a Marketing position, but I have always wanted to work with an organization that does more for others and really gives back. Not that my last company didn’t do that, they just weren’t in an industry that really fosters charity or giving and even so did sponsor some charity events, which was nice.

I really need to get back to making this blog work, I suppose after moving all my other blogs to this one, I have been a little stuck with the move and everything, but I promise to do better going forward.

No related posts.

Font Conference! LOL

Corey Tess — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:22:39 +0000

I see some familiar TYPE FACES. Love this script… great! If you deal with fonts, you will find it even funnier!

Graphic Design Nazi!

Corey Tess — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:34:13 +0000

Honestly when you work as an in-house design team – no matter how fun or rockin your job is, every now and then.. you know.. you feel that little pang of the GD Nazi regime! This is hysterical, but if you are a GD or in Marketing, you will HOWL!

Advertising WTF?

Corey Tess — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 01:29:55 +0000

Carry Your Maxi Pads Everywhere, Girls!
Current mood: silly
Category: Life

Proof positive that women are needed in the high paid and competitive world of consumer advertising….

I can see the ad exec pitching this idea now… then she leaps into the air ninja style, with the pad in hand and BLOCKS the massive leak.. soaking up every last drop… she lands on her feet and her friend strokes the pad lightly and smiles as she realizes the pad is totally dry….. surely this will sell more pads!

COME ON MEN! PULEEEEESE!

Advertising by Design

Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld – not a winning combo!

Corey Tess — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 06:31:22 +0000

The idea was certainly a unique one. Although Jerry’s character on Seinfeld was clearly a MAC man – his real life counterpart loves MONEY! Hey, who the heck doesn’t! I love Bill Gates much more after seeing him in this off-the-wall advertising stunt. Thinking outside the box… well, perhaps, but maybe not that far outside next time, boys!

Humor wins your audience to a product!

Corey Tess — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:11:16 +0000

Because I really appreciate good marketing! I love humor in advertising, it is a gift that allows the consumer to feel as though you have given them something back in return for their valuable time.