First, let's address some issues. Why does blogging matter to business anyway? Two words: Connection and Communication. A business blog is an informal, easily maintained forum that allows communication between companies, customers, employees. And the best part is a blog is dynamic. It doesn't just lay there like a static webpage. A business blog provides a voice for your company that educates and informs your website visitors. They speak about your company's culture, make customers feel as if they know you better.
Our latest series of posts includes talk about some of the greatest advertising ever created, back in the day when brilliant ideas ruled and technology had yet to burst on the scene.
Making it more like Siri? The buzz about Hummingbird is that it’s the most significant change to Google’s search function in about 10 years. Unlike algorithm updates such as Penguin and Panda, Hummingbird is more of an addition. Although Google’s Search Chief, Amit Signai, labels it a “replacement,” Hummingbird is an interface that does a better job at matching complex web queries to targeted web pages.
Doyle Dane Bernbach made this iconic commercial in 1972. The commercial features three brothers eating breakfast. Three bowls of Life cereal sit before them. The two older brothers note that it's "supposed to be healthy." Neither wants to try it. ("I'm not gonna try it – you try it!"). So they get their little brother Mikey to try it. ("Let's get Mikey. He hates everything."). Mikey stares at the cereal, then reluctantly has a spoonful. Soon, he's eating vigorously, prompting his brothers to exclaim, "He likes it! Hey, Mikey."
It's tough to advertise toilet paper. But John Cherokas found a way to do it. He created George Whipple, a fictional supermarket manager, and the advertisements ran for 21 years, from 1964 to 1985. In the ads, Mr. Whipple repeatedly scolds customers who "squeeze the Charmin." Of course, Whipple hypocritically squeezes the rolls when no one is looking.
If you've ever wondered about the beginning of recorded music, you should know about the Victor Talking Machine Company. Victor was the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records from 1901 to 1929. The company was headquartered in Camden, New Jersey.
The brand's icon was "Nipper," has been claimed in various sources to be a Jack Russell Terrier, a Fox Terrier, or an American Pit Bull Terrier. It doesn't matter. Nipper was the dog that served as the model for a painting titled "His Master's Voice," by Francis Barraud.
Most Superbowl ads are either over-the-top productions, or they involve crude "supposed" humor. The Mini-Darth Vader spot is unique for it's depiction of a small, simple and touching moment. It is charming because of its brilliant story of a universal human truth. The ad agency that created it is Deutsch/Los Angeles.
Where to begin? How about cave paintings that date back to 4,000 BC? (Rumor has it that an exceptional image of the first Apple iPhone was found in the Paleolithic caves of Lascaux, France. That's how far ahead of the times Steve Jobs was.) And then there are the Egyptians, who used papyrus to make sales messages and wall posters. Commercial messages and political campaign displays have been found in Pompeii. (They became very hot.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8
"1984" introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer. It was conceived by Steve Hayden, Brent Thomas and Lee Clow at Apple's advertising agency Chiat/Day. And it was directed by Ridley Scott (Blade Runner, Alien). The commercial is considered a watershed event and a masterpiece in advertising. It is doubtless the most memorable and successful commercials of all time.
Coca-Cola was invented in 1886 by Dr. John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia. The soft drink was first sold to the public at the soda fountain in Jacob's Pharmacy. About nine servings of the drink were sold each day. Sales for the first year totaled $50.
This Rolls-Royce print ad from the 1960's was created by David Ogilvy. It is one of the most famous advertisements in history.
"At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in this new Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock."
That's the headline. It taught all copywriters that the best ad ideas could be derived from the product itself. Ogilvy's idea behind this ad was to place Rolls-Royce in its proper market. He didn't have to try to be overly creative, nor did he do much research on the campaign. He used the technical editorial of an auto magazine to develop the idea.
This is virtuoso advertising, Einsteinian even. It is imaginative, intelligent, original. And it works. In 2006, Dos Equis was something of an also-ran brand of imported beer. Certainly no Heineken. (Although, in 2010 Heineken bought the Dos Equis brand from Mexico's Femsa for $7.6 billion.) They turned to Euro RSCG, a global ad agency, specifically their 4D New York office for help boosting the Dos Equis Brand. The result was nothing short of amazing.