Last week marked the 100th birthday of David Ogilvy, legendary advertising executive. Nicknamed “The Father of Advertising,” Time called Ogilvy “the most sought-after wizard in today’s advertising industry.” It’s no secret that I’m a big, BIG fan of David Ogilvy, and have been heavily influenced by his words and wisdom. So to celebrate his 100th [...] Read more »
Why You May Be Sabotaging Your Advertising Efforts and How to Avoid This Mistake – Part One
I’m concerned that you may be sabotaging your advertising efforts… and it has nothing to do with poorly written ads, or choice of media. Truth be told, I’ve carried this concern for a long time. But it took a customer experience meltdown to remind me that I need to make sure you’re maximizing every penny [...] Read more »
I Hate Miracle Whip… But I Love This Ad
In this post, I’ll deconstruct Miracle Whip’s “Take a Side” ad, explaining why its one of the best ads I’ve seen in awhile. First Mental Image: “On a scale from one to 10, I HATE Miracle Whip at like 22.” KABOOM! Just like that, you’re captivated by a high-impact, First Mental Image (FMI), which is [...] Read more »
13 Questions to Answer Before Advertising
I get all jazzed up just thinking about marketing strategy. No doubt about it. In fact, there’s no better way to kick-start my workday than to craft a strategy for a new client. But I suspect that most small business owners don’t share my strategy addiction. Rather, they prefer to focus on advertising tactics. Here’s [...] Read more »
On Your Market: Learn Time-Tested Marketing Principles
A the heart of every successful ad campaign lies powerful marketing principles that provide a focal point or axis around which all else revolves. Sadly, many business owners believe that marketing is about choosing the right tactics, or that social media is a panacea for a bad business. Complicating matters is the fact that you [...] Read more »
Monday Morning Marketing Quote: Repeat Your Winners
Are you discarding your advertising before its lost its potency? Today’s Monday Morning Marketing Quote comes from legendary ad executive, David Ogilvy, and discusses measuring the success and failure of your advertising. The quote is taken from his classic marketing and advertising book, Ogilvy on Advertising. “Repeat your winners. If you are lucky enough to [...] Read more »
Monday Morning Marketing Quote: The Importance Of Adding Contrasting To Your Marketing
Are you framing the buying experience for your customers? In this edition of Monday Morning Marketing Quote, I discuss the importance of adding contrasting to your marketing and ad copy. Today’s quote is from Garr Reynolds and his book, Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery. “We are all wired to notice differences. [...] Read more »
Are These The Best Commercials of 2009?
This week, The Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Award Show honored the best commercials of 2009. Winners included Old Spice, Snickers, PETA and FedEx. Watch the video above (courtesy of the Today Show) to view the commercials of all four winners. AICP President and CEO, Matt Miller, will also give you a bit of [...] Read more »
Tom is in high demand as a 
