When your client is Chick-fil-a (a fast-food chain based in Atlanta that serves lots and lots of chicken entrees)…you present a campaign featuring nothing but cows.

Can you imagine the look on that Marketing Director’s face? How about the awkward silence that followed the presentation? Believe it or not, the best campaigns are the ones that are so different, they make you feel uncomfortable. They make you think it could never be done. They aren’t what everyone else is doing. What makes it a great campaign is just that — they are so unconventional that they actually spur a response from the consumer you are trying to reach.

The Chick-fil-a Cows have been in circulation for over a decade. They are a team of cows that joined forces to encourage people to eat chicken rather than beef (aka a hamburger at competitors).  The campaign is genius, differentiating Chick-fil-a from its fast-food rivalries like McDonald’s and Burger King. A truly guerilla effort on the cows’ part, they hold signs that are misspelled and often have local messages. The cows have reached all types of media including TV, outdoor, events and sponsorships.

Hindsight, the campaign seems like a no-brainer. A funny, tongue-in-cheek way to get attention. However, it probably wasn’t that easy from the beginning. There was probably some squirming. Some doubt. Some push back. But lo and behold! Creativity prevailed! Hats off to you Mr. (or Ms.) Marketing Director, for going against the grain. For letting your agency give you a great creative direction that has spanned a decade!

Marketing Director Moral of the Story: Do something different. Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different response. Can we really expect consumers to respond to us if we keep feeding them the same thing over and over?

Agency Moral of the Story: It is our job to make our clients feel uncomfortable. To make them rethink the way things are done. To make them step outside the norm. It is our job to make consumers pay attention.

As you’ve read here before, we are thrilled to be handling the PR for Setai San Diego, the new 184-room premier luxury hotel located in downtown San Diego’s financial district, which opens next month (Dec. 2008). As Setai San Diego nears completion, the hundreds of design, art and custom-made features are being installed and really bringing the property to life. It is definitely unlike anything San Diego has ever seen and we think it will blow people away.

More pictures to come, but this gives you an idea of a standard room.

Setai San Diego has also just announced its dining and bar partner is Suite & Tender Bar, Lounge and Restaurant.  It will feature the cuisine of James Beard Award-winning Chef Christopher Lee, and will be a softer, more sophisticated take on the typical steakhouse. Suite & Tender is based on a gastro-tourism concept where diners have the chance to create an experience that is completely their own and will focus on choices, not rules. In addition to table-side cocktail service, it will offer a wine selection that gets this Napa Valley native very excited: guests will be able to sample various wines from a distinguished American-focused wine list, and create their own flights, deciding between a sip, a taste or a bottomless glass. Take a guess at which option I’ll be choosing from when dining or hanging in the Lounge…

Seaport Village’s Ben & Jerry’s locations are giving away free ice cream cones on election day from 5-9 p.m. as an “Election Confection” celebration.

In-the-know coworker, Callan let me know that Baskin Robbins was also doing some great work with the elections, so I checked it out. Not only are they doing great work with the elections, but with social media and branding overall. It’s a natural fit; people like to talk about stuff they love, and who doesn’t love ice cream!?

Check out The National Flavor Election Flavor Debate ’08. The Republican “Straight Talk Crunch” flavor vs. the Democratic “Whirl of Change” flavor. If you look to the cold and creamy to make your election decision, it looks like Obama will be running the country thanks to peanut-nougats, chocolate-covered peanut brittle and a caramel ribbon.

More importantly, Baskin Robbins and their Flavor Debate made all the right moves.

• Their Facebook page has 54,996 fans and they’re interacting with the brand through hundreds of wall posts and pictures.
• I took 2 minutes to type “Baskin Robbins” into monitter and people are talking! They weren’t talking casual mentions of BR either. They were talking about the Flavor Debate ’08 – exactly what BR’s smart PR folks wanted them to talk about!
• They’re represented on Flickr
• They’re talked about on Youtube
• They run a twitter account
• They’re saved on delicious
• And – they have a strong Wikipedia page

Ben & Jerry’s isn’t doing so bad themselves. With similar social interaction as Baskin Robbin’s and a heated debate on ice cream’s involvement in politics (2 subjects I never thought I’d combine in one sentence) their Facebook page has 287,819 fans!

So what are you doing to become one of these fine examples of successful social media campaigns?

I was in a client meeting last week at our office and we started talking about the economy and how people were constantly looking for ways to save money while not having to give up the luxuries they had become accustomed to, such as dining out or pampering yourself with a facial. My client mentioned how well a coupon magazine was working for one of the restaurants at her shopping and dining property on the waterfront in downtown San Diego and how the magazine as a whole offered such amazing deals all over the county.

Knowing how people like a deal, including myself (trust me, ask anyone at my advertising agency in San Diego), I suggested to her, and my fellow co-workers to check out this great website where you can search for coupons ranging from 2-1 offers at restaurants to major travel discounts. I was stunned when I learned none of them had heard of Backpage. I’ve been a user for years, ever since I moved to San Diego three years ago. The site is very similar to Craiglist, which doesn’t offer coupons, and they have websites for all the major cities in the US.

It’s free for people to post and download the coupons. Check it out, you never know what deal you might find this month.

Speaking of creativity, this Häagen Daz web site caught my attention for its clever cross pollination of advertising ice cream and generating public awareness on the alarming disappearance of the Honey Bee. You can also create your own animated Honey Bee to email. Here’s my creation. You can make one too. Oh, and I’m really craving a bowl of Vanilla Swiss Almond ice cream right now. Darn it.

Thanks to our new friend Matthew Rowley, we have learned that it is now possible to not only Not Drink the Koolaid — you can now Not EAT the Koolaid as well! Yep, turns out the crazy folks in the South have found a new way to consume the beloved elixir by super-soaking pickles with it.Before you yack, consider this: if the Del Mar Fair can serve one up batter fried and on a stick, then why is a cherry flavored pickle so hideous sounding? This is why I love America — such culinary ingenuity!

FYI check out Matthew’s cool blog called Rowley’s Whiskey Forge. He’s got a wicked cocktail vibe going.

So, we’re heading up to Sambazon today and thought it would be fun to make something new out of their yummy acai products to share with them. Modified a recipe I found on The Bad Girl’s Kitchen blog, who found the recipe on Enlightened Cooking. You can watch the video or just follow the recipe below. Either way - happy eats!

No Bake Energy Bars with Acai

2 /12 c. oats

1/2 c. toasted wheat germ

1/2 c. dried non-fat milk powder

1/2 c. dried cherries or other dried fruit, chopped

1/2 c. lightly salted, roasted almonds, chopped

1 c. peanut butter or other nut butter

1/2 c. honey

1 Sambazon Amazon Cherry smoothie pack, defrosted

1 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. salt

Line 9″x9″ pan with foil and spray with vegetable oil.

In large bowl mix together oats, wheat germ, milk powder, cherries and nuts. Over medium heat, blend peanut butter and honey. Once blended and smooth, take off heat and stir in cherry acai juice. Add vanilla, cinnamon and salt to peanut mixture. Add wet to dry ingredients. Blend well.

Pour into pan. Using wax paper, press mixture into pan well. Let cool. Cover and chill in fridge. Cut into bars as desired and wrap in plastic wrap or foil.

Beer. A rather rambunctious group of BeeGees headed over to our favorite cheese purveyor, Taste, last night for an education in the pairing of beer and cheese. A couple of times a year, Taste partners with the owners of O’Brien’s (I think an outing there needs to happen soon) and puts together interesting combinations that elicit either gasps of joy or that little pinched up yuck-I-didn’t-like-that look. We experienced both. Since I’m posting first, I’ll tell you what I liked: Unibroue La Fin du Monde - what a delicious, easy Belgian beer. That was served with Peppadew stuffed with herb chevre. If you are looking for a perfect little app that looks cute and tastes great - this is it. Rumor has it, it’s going to be included in the upcoming food issue of Riviera mag. Another unusual Belgian beer was the Maredsous 8 - loved it. The overall cheese winners of the night at our table were the goudas. Tasty, indeed.

Just learned that Jamba Juice is giving away free* breakfast before 10a at participating locations tomorrow. They must have known it was my bday.

No doubt all of BG will be there.

* To cover my a**, I suggest you read the legal disclaimer on Jamba’s site.

We were just hired by the team that is opening Jade Theater in downtown San Diego. They have struggled. Mostly it’s been about construction, permits, licenses. The usual things that hang up every restaurant/hotel opening with which we have been involved.

Along the way, quite a bit of misinformation has been printed/posted by media about the project. We are in discussions with our client about reintroducing the concept, team, etc. There has been a lot of conversation about how to draw in the media and speak to their targeted audience. The client wants, expects, needs attention by the media. And as PR professionals we can deliver. But ultimately, they have to deliver. Some clients are so focused on getting the coverage that they don’t seem to keep their eye on the ball that matters most. Delivering.

We recently had that experience with another F&B client and it was painful. So now, when we talk to a new client, we talk about their service, about who is responsible for the food quality, the management of the floor and all the things that a customer deserves. Agencies need to take the time to talk to their clients about their readiness to deliver. Without it, everyone’s reputation suffers.