The Inkwell

Having designed and produced many a sign for clients over the years – in many townships, municipal districts and areas with some of the most absurd rules and regulations imaginable – we’ve pretty much seen it all when it comes to getting signs approved.

Yet it’s no secret that retail thrives with good signage.  So what’s a business to do when all else fails? How about a little chalk talk?

While walking from the PATH in Hoboken yesterday, I noticed a fantastic effort by an off-the-beaten-path retailer, Patricia’s Yarns. Owned by a Hoboken resident and avid knitter, the store exists just off Washington Street, Hoboken’s main corridor for retail and dining.  Thousands of young,  affluent commuters trapse up and down its sidewalks each day to head into the Big Apple to make their living. And when they return to Hoboken, with money to spend, standing out in an area dense with boutique options is key.

So next time you need to get noticed, why not take signage into your own hands? A little sidewalk chalk, some bright pastel colors and voila…insta-signage!

Smart thINKing for sure, Patricia. And with a tip of our knit caps off to you, here’s to hoping it doesn’t rain!

While waiting to get my haircut this month, I was flipping through the Village Voice when I spotted the latest marketing effort to make it into Clever, Ink.’s smart thINKing Hall of Fame.

After breezing past several articles and the latest concert scene, I came upon that infamous personals section. You know, the one we all pretend we don’t glance at when we actually can’t help ourselves. And there it was – ad brilliance! No, it was not the tombstone ads boasting erotic massage, or the unbelievably sketchy headlines that caught my attention. Rather, it was HBO’s front and center ad promoting their new show “Hung”.

“Hung” follows the surreal life of Ray Drecker, a former high school sports legend turned middle-aged high school basketball coach who is divorced and struggling to provide for his kids by exploiting his best asset (hint: the show’s title says it all). Chock full of all of the elements that make viewers laugh out loud – role reversal (a former fling becomes Drecker’s “boss)”, ironic tragedy, unrequited bitterness and brilliant writing – the show plays off a man who will try anything to save his dignity while sacrificing it at the same time. For HBO to promote the show via a personal ad. That’s just simply smart.

Why? Foremost, the placement is genius. Forget clutter cutting, HBO obviously did its market research to ascertain that the many men who would “flip” through personals would also be likely to tune into “Hung” (solely for the content, of course.) But the ad also ties in social media elements like a redirect to the live website HappinessConsultants.com, the name of the business Ray and his madame set up dba style. In addition, an 888 number actually ties to a voice mailbox further promoting the show by inviting viewers to “meet” Ray on Sundays at HBO. Way to arm your marketing gurus with tracking tools and useful data for developing future marketing initiatives HBO!

So for a good time, go call 888-588-HUNG. And be sure to jot it down in your little black book of must watch TV. After this ad, HBO deserves giving it a try.

Recently, I attended my cousin’s college graduation. Oh, the spirit and celebration of several hundred neophytes looking at life from a fresh perspective. Well, thanks – but no thanks!

Being a teen/recent college graduate today must be a lot of work. But being the parent of one must be more like shoving a flaming dagger in your eye – and then falling on it. With the advent of social media, texting, IMing, cell phones with GPS navigation that can track a user right to their locale, peer pressure and a job market that has basically disapperared, I can think of no worse technology than time travel right about now. Because personally, I would NOT want to go back.

Which is why The Ad Council, in partnership with The Family Violence Prevention Fund, wins the most recent smart thINKing award for their That’s Not Cool initiative. In particular, for their clever spot – “Textural Harassment” – that fuses whimsy and humor to connect with teens about a very serious issue – DAILY PRESSURES. (You can watch the spot below by clicking on the image)

Replete with all the interactive, progressive bells and whistles that engage teens/youth today, That’s Not Cool is a digital PSA in disguise. It contains all of the information youth need to become and remain aware of the pressures other teens can place on them, while also serving up viral, social and educational elements that make the site sticky and relevant.

Check out the Callout Cards (and some are quite hilarious), self defense e-tools that enable users to tell someone to “back up off”. And the Talk it Out section where users can dialogue, give and get advice on topics such as “pic pressure”, constant messaging, rumor control and friends in crisis.

And the beauty of the site. It uses real, identifiable youth, typography indicative of the MTV generation, and to funnel end users exactly where they want them – to the help section of the site that is essentially a portal to all of the resources kids today have to stand strong and proud.

And when smart thINKing meets grassroots there’s always a winner!

Growing up with a “coupon queen” for a mother, I can’t remember a trip to the grocery store that didn’t include coupons. That and that my brother and I were always the lucky recipients of the buy one get one at Mr. Steak (probably one of the reasons I shun red meat today.)

Given today’s economy, it’s no surprise that there is a surge in coupon use (according to the Promotion Marketing Association’s Coupon Council, 94 percent of consumers use coupons today). And who knows coupons better than good old Valpak?

With a brilliant headline, backed by stellar copy, Valpak’s newest ad is the latest creative to earn a smart thINKing thumbs up.

Ok, I know. Valpak. Who suggests that to client’s these days? BUT the bottom line is this – in today’s down economy, consumers are looking for V-A-L-U-E! Not just sales, people. Sales on top of sales, and then another 50% mark down. So, Valpak makes a lot of sense right now.

Their clever “shift to thrift” messaging is smart and timely, and they are able to penetrate mailboxes without fear of firewalls of spam filters. By positioning their discount package of coupons as the “Original Consumer Stimulus Package”, their on the fast track to getting rediscovered by marketers who wrote them off as a thing of the past. They may not be the least expensive direct marketing tool, but with a business climate below freezing, it’s hardly the time for trial and error marketing. Today, it’s about doing what works.

Click on the image and read for yourself. And then go get some scissors and start clipping.

Recently, I attended a party where half of the guests were laid off. This made for lots of jokes and humor, perhaps the only way those handed their pink slips can get by these days. The fact remains, lay-offs touch us all – whether it’s a spouse, friend or co-worker. It’s become the new Six Degree of Separation.

We’ve all done it…Whether it’s unloading an old car in order to afford a new one, peddling a piece of unwanted furniture or selling clothes purged from our closets, we’ve all turned to classified ads at one time or another.

Until now, the most effective way to pawn what we’re ready to put behind us has been Craig’s List (and it still amazes me that the founder of Craig’s List has declined seven figure offers simply because he created the site for goodwill and purpose, but that’s an entirely different blog post.)

Ok. So you might ask what a 15-pound pug has to do with smart thINKing? When I started this blog, I really wanted to identify and promote ideas that link thinking to three words: smart, clever and strategic.

And it dawned on me recently, I was being had by my dog…

Bella, my pug, was displaying “smart thINKing” right under my nose. Recently, she unraveled this neat-o new “trick” where the moment she hears me reach for her leash, she leaps from her comfy resting spot on the couch and beelines it under my bed – of course, out of my reach. Is it because she does not have to use the “facilities”? Or, perhaps, because she has agoraphobia (fear of open spaces/the outdoors)?

No. It’s because Bella has figured out that in order for me to get her out from under the bed, I have to either spelunk my way to her or offer her her favorite form of canine crack – turkey pepperoni. About 99% of the time, that dog covets her turkey pepperoni (and I swear, she smirks at me while savoring every last bite.) And then, we head outside.

So, what’s the moral of this smart thINKing anecdote? If you want your target audience to do what you want them to do, figure out a clever way to get them to meet you half way, and then do what works for them. And it doesn’t help to be awfully damn cute in the process.

While Southwest Airlines’ “Wanna Get Away?” campaign is hardly new, it provides a fantastic model of how to leverage humor with life’s harsh realities, something every consumer can relate to today. And one of the best spots in the campaign came from the airlines’ “Wanna Get Away” contest winner.

“I’m Engaged” is as basic as it gets – sometimes basic is the best way to deliver funny – opening with a pre-“pop the question pep talk” between buds and culminating with every man’s worst nightmare.

The cuts are quick and well done, and the casting perfect. Check out the male reply when he finally musters the courage to ask the woman of his dreams for her hand, and quickly learns that not all dreams pan out.

Nothing new, but this spot still ranks high on the memorability scale.

During a time when retail success is measured by market share and customer loyalty, Dunkin Donuts continues to thrash Starbucks, the original pioneer in converting the coffee cup into a fashion icon.

Not only has Dunkin thrown down the gauntlet with their Dunkin Beats Starbucks campaign – yes, you too can send viral e-cards boasting “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink Starbucks” and “Hate to Say I Told You So” to those friends and co-workers who still think Starbucks is better – they have also launched a new ad campaign backed by honest-to-goodness data.

The part of this ad that jumped out and grabbed me is the statement “We don’t work around our schedule, we work around yours.” Forget I’m in advertising, that’s just damn good to hear today. We’re certainly not hearing it from the utilities who power our homes (you’ve got to love that cable install/repair window of 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.), or the airlines or our doctors.

This campaign works because it’s real. It’s timely. And because it embraces the very fact that, as marketing professionals, we must do more than dabble in today’s experiential consumer movement. Simply put, give your consumers what they want, when and how they want it, or you’re roasted. In this case, that’s a good thing.