Book | Brand Man

March 27, 2012 | by brandman | 1 Comment

IN Book

I’m 34 and I absolutely love the band Journey.

I’m 34 and I purchased five kinds of insurance over the last year (renters, auto, life, health, disability).

State Farm and its agency partner DDB know all of this about me – hence, this silly and effective spot that pairs beautifully with “SportsCenter,” “Justified,” and other dude-friendly programming I enjoy.

The message (“State Farm’s customer service is available 24/7″) gets buried by the joke a bit. But who cares — the other night I actually stopped my DVR while it was fast-forwarding and showed this spot to Mrs. Brand Man.

If that ain’t effective marketing I don’t know what is.

How Target Got Awesome

March 22, 2012 | by brandman | Leave a comment

IN Book

I write a lot about cool, sexy, stylish brands that are doing cool, sexy and stylish things with their marketing.

But what if your brand is kinda boring? What if you sell tires? Or cheese? Or whatever?

What if you’re stuck?

Fear not. I have one word for you: Target. And three more: Peterson Milla Hooks.

Essential and inspiring read over at Ad Age about how PMH (which has since moved on) helped Target go from blah discount retailer to a fashionable and stylish buzz brand.

And just for fun: here’s some great Target creative:

Diet Coke says: you’re all stars

February 28, 2012 | by brandman | Leave a comment

IN Book

Diet Coke’s Hollywood-themed Oscar night ad by Wieden + Kennedy has lush production values, and makes a simple point:

Even if you’re not on camera, you’re working hard to entertain the world.

(And you’re getting a little extra pep courtesy of Diet Coke.)

Lots of other inspiring, non-Oscar creative at the Diet Coke YouTube channel.

Category Archives: Book