Posts Tagged ‘advertising’

Amazing Print Ads

Monday, January 31st, 2011

In the digital era, it seems that print ads are a thing of the past. Not so! However, I do think (my opinion only) that it is that much more important for print ads to be striking, attention grabbing and quickly informative. In a world where staying on a web site for 10 seconds is unheard of, viewers are accustomed to efficiently absorbing information from a variety of sources and will click off, turn the page or look away when the subject matter is not immediately of interest. So, with that in mind, D-Lists has compiled a list of their favorite print ads and I’d like to pass on the findings to you. Enjoy!




















Caption: Put yourself in a mink’s place. Don’t buy animal skins.
Animals suffer like we do!




Caption: Put yourself in a pig’s place. Help us stop anesthetic-free pig castration.
Animals suffer like we do!


Clever advertising makes you think!

Monday, September 20th, 2010

I just love a good advertisement, especially ones that invoke the feeling I used to get when reading pop-up books, children’s books that had “touchy-feeley” stuff, anything that was interactive on some level. (See: Pat the Bunny)

The following advertisements, in some way, shape or form, invoke feelings. Some are larger than life, others are optical illusions and some are simply standard print ads that make you think.

A seafood company strategically placed oversized clam shells on the actual beach, all of which featured a printed insert motivating consumers to buy seafood.

 

McDonalds used already existing light posts to persuade walk-by traffic to purchase their coffee by pouring them a super sized cup.

 

If you stare at the signage below long enough, you’ll want to sober up before getting by the wheel too.

 

The billboard below, featured at one of the largest gatherings of car fanatics, features a smoke machine built into the back that actually shows the onlooker just how well the new Mustang can burnout.

 

The in-flight advertisement below is by far my favorite. Window decals were created to inspire executive travelers to check out the newly recreated Mercedes Gull Wing. Travelers also received model cars as a take away.

 

Credits to D-Lists, Ads of the World and Google.


Top 5 Free Resources For Business Tweeps

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

TwitterGrade for Zoom Creates

As of the writing of this post, there are 7,682,986 registered users on Twitter.  Once your business has made the leap in to the Twitterverse, you’ll need to have some resources at-hand to monitor and contribute to this additional way of sharing yourself. Your adoring customers, clients, fan-boys, and industry peers will begin following you. How do you stay on top of the flow of followers, and keep everyone engaged?

For businesses to grab a share of those potential customers, they need tools to research, track, and position themselves correctly.  Here is the short-list of business-oriented resources you should be using for Twitter.

TwitterGrader
Find out what your business rank/grade is on Twitter.  Great tool to start your research.

TwitterCounter
Register for this free tool to begin tracking your subscribers, get weekly reports, predictions, and advice on who you should be following.  You can also overlay your competitors in the graph to see how you compare.

HootSuite
The “do-it-all” tool for business tweeps.  Register and set up scheduled tweets to be posted days, weeks, and months in advance.

LocaFollow
Geo-located Twitter happenings in a specific area.  Set it up to track your city or neighborhood, and keep an eye on what is trending near you.

TweetScan
Similar to Summize (AKA Twitter Search), get reports on topics which affect your business.  Sign up to generate email alerts. Find out who is talking about your business or brand instantly or report daily and become aware of how your brand is viewed by the Twitter masses.

If you incorporate some or all of the above resources into your Twitter endeavors, you will definitely see better results than if you hadn’t done any at all. How much of a difference will it make? No one can say for sure, but at least you’ll be able to see how your numbers and metrics are being affected and what measures you’re taking that seem to be paying off. Happy Tweeting!


Google TV?

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Google, Intel and Sony are collaborating on a new platform currently called “Google TV”. This would likely lead to the development of set-top boxes and integrated hardware in future consumer screens to utilize the platform. Content focus would be to merge social applications, digital television, and local digital files. Additionally, the current plan is to base the platform on the Android operating system, allowing developers to quickly produce another set of open source applications for users of Google TV.

How does this measure up? A win for Sony, being a leader in entertainment technology. Intel is getting involved because the technology will be run on their Atom chips. And Google? They want to be able to leverage their advertising to take over consumer eyes sitting on their couch at home.

Personally, I believe they should drop the “TV” moniker to use a more relevant current name, like “Google Screen”. Some people might get the idea that it is specific to television, and wouldn’t provide a complete media service.

This may be another set-top box, similar to Boxee’s beautiful set-top they recently released. Apple TV? Assume this will be far superior. Time to start developing Android apps which will run on your home theater system? Yes, please.


Guess What? Size DOES matter.

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

googlebrowsersizeThe Internet is full of variables.  As web developers and web designers, we constantly wrestle with web user variables.  Things like: browser types, browser versions, platforms, Flash, JavaScript, cookies, web-safe colors, connection speed, visual impairments, and fonts.

Our goal is to find the most common settings, and to deliver web sites which match settings with a majority of users viewing the sites.  Also, we need to mitigate any problems which might arise if the user doesn’t have their environment settings similar to the development team’s in-house settings.  Let’s face it, not everybody uses Firefox or Chrome.
(more…)


Social Media Revolution

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

I came across this video about a month ago and was so impressed by it, I went ahead and pulled the stats out to use in client interaction. Take a few moments to take this in… well worth the time out of your day to see the real impact social media is having on the world as we know it.


Happiest of holidays to you from Zoom!

Friday, December 25th, 2009

Zoom Creates will be shutdown from December 24 – January 4, 2010.

Here’s to another great year of inspiring design, development magic and strategies that will knock your socks off!

tiffany-advertisement

vintage-hoover-ad

vintage coffeematic ad



Guerrilla Marketing to promote change

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Although Guerrilla Marketing can indeed prompt it’s target audiences to buy a product or influence their purchasing decisions, it can also bring about change in a way that is not monetary at all. The following campaigns were compiled by D-Lists and struck a chord with me.

The campaign below was designed to bring awareness to landmines and the continued use of them in certain countries. The ketchup packets turn into a powerful graphic message when the corner is torn off giving the impression that the boy’s leg has been lost and is bleeding as ketchup seeps out.

The second ad is for Project Cuddle; see description below.

Finally, the Dublin City Council simply got sick of people leaving gum on the sidewalk so they came up with an effective, yet inexpensive campaign to get their point across.

6a00d8345250f069e2012875cedb8c970c-550wi

Changing-station-complete-4

dublingum_0


Zoom Creates a radio campaign!

Tuesday, July 21st, 2009

Sunset_Radio_Web_Banner_0716

We’ve been having a heckofagoodtime here at Zoom Creates. In addition to the typical fun and festivities surrounding our projects, we’ve been working on a radio ad for one of our long term clients, Sunset Bingo. Over the last year, Sunset Bingo has undergone a plethora of changes, both internal (remodel) and external (brand/identity). Zoom Creates has been fortunate enough to play a major role in both, and then some.

This radio ad is meant to convey to the world, rightly so, that bingo is a fun, inexpensive and often lucrative form of entertainment that can be enjoyed with friends or family. Our process for creating the ad consisted of brainstorming sessions, copy writing,  and rounds of revisions, production and editing, as well as the team effort of fine-tuning the ad second by second to get the final result we were looking for.

Please take a listen and let us know what you think. Better yet, head down to Sunset Bingo for a night of fun and let them know you heard the good word from Zoom Creates!

This radio ad is currently being aired on K103fm. Click below to listen:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.


When It Rains, It Pours.

Friday, July 3rd, 2009

1365425839_21b282604f_b

I was combing the grocery store aisles last week because I needed salt for a recipe. I didn’t need just ANY salt, though. I wanted the very best salt. I saw a plethora of different brands, some name brands and others generic. The one that stood out, of course, was Morton’s Salt. It was packaged better, and featured a nifty little pour spout that the others lacked. Besides that, I’ve known since childhood that the round blue box contained the best salt in the world. How did I know that? Marketing, my friends.

The branding of Morton’s salt began in 1911 with a significant image that has evolved over the years, but essentially stayed the same. We are all familiar with the little girl and umbrella holding a box of salt pouring out behind her, amidst the rain. Her tagline is “When it rains, it pours.” Why? Because in 1914, Morton’s salt publicized their claim to fame: their salt contained magnesium carbonate, an anti-caking agent that allowed the salt to pour freely even in great humidity or rain. Today Morton’s salt doesn’t contain magnesium carbonate anymore; rather, it contains calcium silicate, an equally anti-caking alternative.

So that must mean that Morton’s is indeed the better salt, thus the higher price tag and much higher annual sales. Not too fast: upon reading the ingredients for other leading and generic salt brands I found that they, too, contain anti-caking agents which allow them to also  pour freely in the rain. What is the Morton’s secret, then? Brand. Brand. Brand.

(more…)