“Advertising is about making an arresting image and getting people to stop when they’re flicking through a magazine, so they look at what you’re telling them about, whether they’re attracted or repelled by what they see.”  – Tom Ford

Good advertising makes you stop. It makes you look. It makes you remember. The extraordinary that captivates us. Inspires us. As I contemplated what to write about for this post, it suddenly dawned on me that sometimes just sharing really cool stuff is important. So today, I’m doing just that. Enjoy!

New York: The KNARF advertising agency created the “Push The Envelope” campaign for the School of Visual Arts in which images of envelopes with custom-engraved push-plates were installed on the doors so students literally “Pushed The Envelope” while entering and exiting. What I love about this concept is how engaging it is.

The Netherlands: Y&R Not Just Film created an advertising campaign for Interbest Outdoor to help promote ad space. Instead of simply throwing up a phone number and saying ‘Space Available’ or ‘Advertise Here’, Interbest took it 10 steps further by using their available ad space to do intriguing and somewhat disturbing self-promotion. Brilliant.

Tokyo, Japan: A giant mirror with Indivi clothes printed on it was built to allow shoppers to stop and see what they would look like in the brand’s clothes. This is yet another example of an advertising campaign that interacts with the consumers. Here, one can really see what the products look like on them without stepping foot in the door. Love it.

Hong Kong: A cost-effective advertisement for a yoga school showcasing the prowess of a yoga practitioner on the flexible stems of a soft drink straw. This campaign represents limitless boundaries in my opinion. We can advertise on anything, really. So creative.

These are just a few examples of how inspirational advertising can really be. Everyday, Ad agencies around the world are developing new and different ways to reach their client’s consumers. Just when you thought a campaign couldn’t get any more creative.

Having to sit through a 15-second pre-roll ad before an online video begins is painful and frustrating. Especially when the ad is 5-seconds shorter than the video itself. As annoying as these ads are, it’s clear that they’re not going anywhere. So if we’re not able to bypass them, we should at least be able to select which ones to watch.

Thanks to a service developed by Fairfax Digital, now we can. Ad Selector allows consumers the ability to control the messages they receive. Through Ad Selector, advertisers using online platforms that are owned by Farifax Digital are able to significantly bolster brand awareness and recall among consumers by giving them the option of choosing one of three ads they deem more relevant to them. The system is set up to a default ad if the viewer doesn’t select one within the allotted amount time.

Advertisers recognize the importance of putting power in consumers hands. Ad Server is yet another example of the continued transfer of media power from the brand to the consumer. The more choice we as consumers have, the less negative our experiences will be.

The leaders of five major magazines companies including Condé Nast, Hearst Magazine, Meredith Corporation, Time Inc. and Wenner Media have come together to launch what’s considered to be one of the largest print advertising campaigns ever created. The goal: to promote vitality of magazines as a medium. “Magazines, The Power of Print” campaign has just begun rolling out its phase one ads this month. Over 100 participating titles will run the ads over the next seven months. Accompanying each ad is the campaign’s logo which is a combination of multiple magazines typograhies.

As someone who still believes strongly in traditional advertising, I couldn’t be more thrilled to see publications putting on a united front and taking a stand against some of the misconceptions people have about the current state of print advertising. It’s not a dying breed. Just as the Internet grows, so do magazines. Magazines are constantly evolving in their own way to offer advertisers unique and different opportunities to reach their consumers. It goes without saying that traditional advertising continues to hold a significant place in our society. So while some say that the Internet will eventually take the place of print, it remains clear that the chances of this happening are slim to none, thanks in part to campaigns like this.

There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes of an advertising agency which client’s typically don’t see. Similar to a movie in which there are several people involved behind the camera, an advertising agency is comprised of many departments all working together ensuring the best quality work. One of these departments is Traffic.

The Traffic Department’s primary goal is to ensure efficiency and profitability. To do this we manage a system that goes a little something like this:

Step 1 – Getting a Project in the Queue – In order for any project to get in the queue, a work order (or a W/O as us ad people like to call it) is submitted detailing the projects scope. A schedule is then backed out and a kick-off meeting meeting is set. It is during this kick-off meeting that the Account team and the Creative team will discuss the approved creative brief and the details surrounding the project. Work can now begin.

Step 2 – Routing for Internal Approval – Prior to any work being presented to a client, the Creative team must route it for internal approval. It’s here that the Account team reviews and provides their feedback. Once both the Creative team and the Account team have signed off, the piece(s) are ready to be presented to the client.

Step 3 – Implementing Client Changes – Client changes are addressed via a Change Request Form (or a CSR). The Account team will fill this form out with the clients changes and submit it to the Traffic department. All client changes must go through Traffic so that we can keep track of how many rounds we’re on. This helps with that whole profitability portion of the job.

Step 4 – Final Delivery - Just because the client has approved something doesn’t mean the project is done. A project isn’t considered completed until its been final delivered to either the printer or publication.

In essence, Traffic is in charge of making sure everything gets done, gets done well and gets done quickly. It takes many calendars, many excel sheets and lots of walking around to acheive this, but when we do our job well, everyone’s happy.

Not too long ago, I wrote a post on the L.A. Times taking a “homepage takeover” concept from web and adapting it to print. This past week, I came across an AdAge article that further asserts the notion that traditional advertising space is looking more and more non-traditional.

Lately, I’ve been noticing that a lot of magazine advertisements are looking more like the ads I see online. Where it use to be that the advertisements were kept separate from the editorial content, we’re now beginning to see them intertwined. As advertisers are given more creative freedom with their ad space, the mixing of the two is becoming more common. While some, like myself, view this as a creative initiative to stand out amongst the rest, others are seeing it more as a distraction than anything else.

In an AdAge article on magazine advertisements, the CEO at the American Society of Magazine Editors, Sid Holt views this marriage between editorial content and advertising as disruptive to the reader experience, which could have a negative impact on the reader’s relationship with the magazine. I disagree.

As companies continue to move more of their marketing dollars online, magazines are going to need to think outside the ‘norm’ when it comes to print advertising. With type of buys available to advertisers online, traditional advertising will need to step up the type of ad space they offer. According to Robin Steinberg, senior VP and director of print investments and activation at MediaVest Worldwide, such thinking is necessary in order to continue evolving the design element of engaging and interacting with the consumer. I couldn’t agree more

At the end of the day, you have to be distracting if you want to engage and interact with your consumers.

I came across an article about creative traditional advertising in AdWeek over the weekend that I thought was great. Author Katy Bachman shed light some much needed light on the groundbreaking advertising the L.A. Times debuted last Friday, in which they took the “homepage takeover” concept from web and adapted it to print.

Created to coincide with the launch of  Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, the front page of the L.A. Time’s Friday’s edition was dominated by Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter character in 3-D.

According to Katy, this is the first time a major newspaper has run this type of ad unit. Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer of the L.A. Times, John O’Loughlin, explains the move as an ‘unusual opportunity to stretch traditional boundaries and deliver innovative ad unit designed to create buzz and further extend the film’s brilliant marketing campaign’.

Though this is the first time we’ve seen a newspaper take this direction, it’s certainly will not be the last. What makes this so cool, is that for a while now, Ad agenceis have been adapting traditional advertising concepts to the online world. Now, for the first time, we are seeing the reverse take place. With the LA Times “homepage takeover” they applied the online concept of re-skinning a page and made it work in print. This is a bold step for the print advertising world that will allow them to stay relevant in these changing times. Kudos the the LA times for getting creative.

What do you think? Will we be seeing more of this in the near future?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the Super Bowl is one of the largest platforms for traditional advertising. The Super Bowl TV commercials have almost become just as big of a deal as the game itself, especially to those who don’t know the difference between a quarterback and a cornerback. Airing your ad during the ‘big game’ not only provides an opportunity for TV revenue and unmatched exposure to the big guys, but also allows businesses to pitch, plug and promote their products.  While the big swingers are paying upwards of $2.5-$3 million per 30-second spot, other companies are getting their exposure through the use of more affordable traditional media platforms.

Radio – The Monday before the ‘big game’ the Super Bowl Media Center opens up, which has become the home of “Radio Row.” Almost every sports radio station, both national and local, has a table set up at the Media Center where they do their live feeds from. It’s here that sports radio talk show hosts do live interviews with past and present NFL stars, as well as actors, musicians and comedians.  And why would all these famous people want to do interview after interview with various stations?  Because they’re capitalizing on the ad money generated from their involvement.  It took me a second to realize that Marshall Faulk was paid every time he said “Hass Avocados” during an interview with a local San Diego radio station a couple years back.  He must have said “Hass Avocados” like 30 times.  Ladanian Tomlinson, yet another NFL player capitalizing on the endorsement opportunities, raked in money by promoting Campbell’s Soup.   Adam Sandler used Radio Row as a way to promote one of his new movies.  It’s unclear exactly how much stars get paid for promoting but one thing is for sure, everyone has one.

Print Promotion - The nightlife in the days leading up to the Super Bowl offers a whole slew of traditional advertising and promotional opportunities as well.  Every major men’s magazine, such as Playboy and Maxim, throws huge Super Bowl parties where famous people and promotional items are plentiful.  Victoria’s Secret has jumped on the Super Bowl party bandwagon this year.  The competition from year to year seems to be increasing as everyone tries to one up the other on the party/promotional circuit. This influx of party throwers can only mean more opportunities for exposure for companies.

Direct Mail – Local retailers are also flooding in with advertisements. The front page of Vons’ weekly special includes coupons for everything from chips to frozen pizza and beer.  Meanwhile, Target is doing their own ‘Super Bowl sale’ for flat screen TVs.  Most, if not all, direct mail advertisements received in this week leading up to Sunday’s game is geared towards the Super Bowl in one way or another. It’s insane.

My point – TV commercials are not the only way to effectively reach the Super Bowl audience.

A lot emphasis is being placed on new media these days, and for good reason. After all, we are a society that thrives off other people’s experiences. For businesses, this can either be a great thing or a catastrophe. But regardless of its impact, new media has yet to take the place of old media. In fact, it’s questionable whether or not new media will ever replace old media.

To get people talking about your brand,  you have to engage them. Whether it’s through a TV commercial that brings tears to your eyes, or a radio spot that has you singing along to its jingle, old media entices our senses. It rattles our emotions. It leaves us wanting more. In his article about Traditional Media, Stuart Elliott references a study called “When Advertising Works”. The study which was released by Yankelovich in association with Sequent Partners in June 2008 revealed that advertisements appearing in traditional media such as television are still “much more likely” to have made a positive impression with consumers than ads running in digital [new] media. When you think about it, Yankelovich’s findings makes sense. I feel that seeing an ad in a magazine or on TV is much less intrusive than the ones I encounter online.

With the influx of new media, it seems more companies are diverting their advertising dollars away from old media. This may have a lot to do with old media being extremely hard to track. But with trackability aside, old media continues to serve an important and irreplaceable role. According to J. Walker Smith, president at the Yankelovich Monitor division of Yankelovish in Atlanta, ads that made an impression in old media were more likely to stimulate word of mouth than ads that made an impression in digital media. Thus, old media creates the buzz that people take to the social media platforms.

Both the old and the new media have different components that are equally important to the overall success of the campaign. So when looking at the bigger picture, its not new media vs. old media; but, rather old media combined with new media. Thus, old media just got a whole lot better!

It seems the San Diego Union Tribune isn’t the only newspaper in a fight for its life. Ten other major newspapers across the country are reported to be on the outs too. According to an article published by The Center for Media Research, an estimated eight of the fifty largest daily newspapers in the U.S. could cease publication in the next eighteen months. And though this news doesn’t come as a huge surprise, it does serve as an indication of where we’re headed as a country when it comes to where we go for our news.

So, how are people taking this news? PewResearch reveals in one of their recent reports that only 43% of Americans say that losing their community newspaper would greatly hurt the civic life of their community. And, mere 33% of American’s say that they would “miss” reading their local community newspapers.

Consensus is — out with old and in with the new…

Watch to find out… http://adage.com/brightcove/lineup.php?lineup=1182767334